Spring Calving Started?

[NWMO]

Read on a couple of posts that calving will start soon for many.......on my way to work, I count new calves everyday......but they still seem pretty hit and miss....so assume the majority will be April / May calves......

Does anyone calve any earlier? With the weather we have been having in the midwest, going any sooner this year and pasture calving would be dangerous with all of the snow and subzero temps......just curious how everyone else plans their calving? I just bought two bred cows that will calve in May, as the older farmer said he was tired of dealing with mother nature and he felt May was a good month temp wise........my other cows are all fall calvers......so am curious if your calving is set up for your convience or your market for the area in getting rid of calves.....

[Jerseygirl]

We calf in April/May and our steers do fine on pasture and hay in the winter.
We butcher at 18 months old and they are very tasty. I'm not sure about the market though.............alot of guys calf in Jan. but they end up losing alot of calves also. I sure wouldn't have wanted any calves the past month with our temps being -35.

[Hammer4]

We had a couple of the cows we bought last fall calve back in January and early February. We lost one of those calves last Friday night in the high winds and blowing snow, it looks like one of the cows stepped on his head and killed him, most likely due to the lack of visibility. We have an open 3 sided shelter for the animals to get into and get out of a north or west wind, but Friday night the wind was blasting 40-60 mph out of the south and blowing snow around like mad.

I normally plan for May - July calving, much better to follow the natural pattern of mother nature and drop the calves when the best forage is available. There are some articles out there that link calving closer to the summer equinox to heifers that come into their first heat sooner, not to mention reduced feed costs by not having to feed the late term cows and cows with new calves extra hay during the cold weather.

The nutritional needs of cows peaks in the last 3 months of pregnancy and just after calving, so it makes sense to have those peak requirements come when the grass is growing.

[jerzeygurl]

we try for summer fall, but ended up with winter for jersey calves warm and dry is key, especially dry, a spring rain can kill them as quick as a winter wind

[Ken Scharabok]

I'm sort of between calving crops. Most of the long-bred cows I bought in early winter just to run the winter have calved. Only one of my resident herd has. She apparently got bred last spring before I pulled out the bull. She is in a separate pasture from the bull to bring her back in line with the resident herd.

[agmantoo]

I am in zone 7. I calve year around. This gives me calves to market when the market is not flooded. I typically send feeder calves to market at least 4 times per year. I may not get the highest price and I may not get the lowest price. Doing what I do lets me have the average and I think it reduces my risk.

We calve in March and April. 90% of our calves will be on the ground by April 15. Partly due to when we market the calves, and partly due to our pasture. Most of our pasture is 2 hours away, so the cows have to be calved out by then, and preferably we want to send calves that are at least 2 weeks old. Also, we sell the calve fresh off the cow in October/November. It makes for a bit more work, but we don't have the pasture near home to calve 170 head out in May. And we try to hit the 600# mark on our calves by early October. I know a lot of people that calve in Feb, and even Jan. That is just too much work, and you MUST have somewhere dry and warm to put those babies when it is -20 to -30 outside.

[ozark_jewels]

We'll have two heifers calving out in March. I like February/March calves and failing that, then October calves.

[JulieLou42]

Most calves come in our area between March and June, tho' the grasses aren't tall enough to turn them out on them till early May.

I want my next to come in June, after the rains stop pretty much and we don't have so much mud and muck around!!! But that won't be till next year. She wasn't real obvious with her cycling this past few months, so I wasn't able to get her AI'd.

I had one come in late May and nothing but rain for about 2 weeks after, so kept him in my basement for 3 weeks till it was not so wet and cold out. I've built a small collapsible calf pen there in the mechanical room where there's a drain hole to the septic tank -- this is a walk-out basement with a garage in it, too. So, since mama wanted to be near where calf was, I tied her to the truck in the driveway with enough lead so she could just get her head inside the garage, where I set out her hay and water. She couldn't get her whole self in the garage. She could tell where her calf was from there, and it settled her down. She couldn't see him, but could hear and smell him.

This worked out pretty well, but is more work than I want to be doing again.

Early July is a good time here for them to come.

[travlnusa]

Started calving season today at 3:05am. Dumbest calf I have ever had. It has yet to occur to the calf it might want to nurse. Been tube feeding since 3:00pm.

We will wrap up calving on March 28th, or so the gestation calendar says.

Originally Posted by travlnusa

Started calving season today at 3:05am. Dumbest calf I have ever had. It has yet to occur to the calf it might want to nurse. Been tube feeding since 3:00pm.

We will wrap up calving on March 28th, or so the gestation calendar says.

That is a short calving season!!

Here is what I do when we have a calf that won't suck. I've done the swearing and fighting thing with them, and it never ever works, so now I save myself the stress.

Tube him for 2-3 days, or until you feel the calf is strong enough to miss a feeding. I usually feed 3 times a day (after the first day) About 8 am, 3 pm and 11 pm.

Then, on whatever day you figure he is strong enough, miss the 11 pm feeding. Leave him in a small pen with mama.

Don't go out and bug them every hour (which is why I miss the night feed) but doesn't hurt to look in on him when you do your regular check.

Every time I have done this the calf has been up and sucking, or will have sucked by the time the next feed would have been scheduled (8 am). I think they finally get hungry enough at the end that the sucking reflex is finally stimulated. But you can't do this in the first day or 2 or you will end up with a dead calf...

[HazyDay]

Late Spring very EARLY summer is key for claving! I find late fall and winter hard on 2 month olds and getting the cows to milk alot to keep them healhy is hard. But Summer is way to hot they start drying faster but they don't seem to grow fast due to the heat. And the cows seem to take longer to recover in the heta of summer . Early spring is way to wet and they can give birth in puddles and kill their babies. But when the rains are gone and summer is just around the coner the claves start dropping!!!! It's fun because of the kids who come at milking time and see the babies they find some many shapes in thier coats it's very funny!!

[travlnusa]

Originally Posted by randiliana

That is a short calving season!!

Here is what I do when we have a calf that won't suck. I've done the swearing and fighting thing with them, and it never ever works, so now I save myself the stress.

Tube him for 2-3 days, or until you feel the calf is strong enough to miss a feeding. I usually feed 3 times a day (after the first day) About 8 am, 3 pm and 11 pm.

Then, on whatever day you figure he is strong enough, miss the 11 pm feeding. Leave him in a small pen with mama.

Don't go out and bug them every hour (which is why I miss the night feed) but doesn't hurt to look in on him when you do your regular check.

Every time I have done this the calf has been up and sucking, or will have sucked by the time the next feed would have been scheduled (8 am). I think they finally get hungry enough at the end that the sucking reflex is finally stimulated. But you can't do this in the first day or 2 or you will end up with a dead calf...

Thanks for the advise. That will be my plan.

Yes it is short, but would rather do a bunch a once than all drawn out. Like so much in life, I do this because my mentor does it that way. In fact, if a calf falls out of his calving window, off the the sale. I dont have the numbers to be that choosy as of yet.

Originally Posted by travlnusa

Thanks for the advise. That will be my plan.

Yes it is short, but would rather do a bunch a once than all drawn out. Like so much in life, I do this because my mentor does it that way. In fact, if a calf falls out of his calving window, off the the sale. I dont have the numbers to be that choosy as of yet.

We wil start Mar 1 and should end around April 28. 170 cows in 30 days would be pretty interesting. Especially right now. And we don't have a barn big enough to even think about that.

[MRSSTEAK]

Originally Posted by travlnusa

Started calving season today at 3:05am. Dumbest calf I have ever had. It has yet to occur to the calf it might want to nurse. Been tube feeding since 3:00pm.

We will wrap up calving on March 28th, or so the gestation calendar says.

Holy Smokes!! This is my first year at calving this early in the year. Normally we calve around May/June. But my husband got anxious and let the girls out with the bull a little early. One is starting to swell up in the back end (if ya know what I mean) And I am so worried it is still too cold. If I'm lucky she will wait a couple more weeks. She is a first time calver and no where near tame, so help is out of the question unless she gets totally exhausted. They are in a 20 acre pasture and I can't run that fast. Is there anything special I will need to do after the calf is born this time of year? We have been trying to get them seperated from the rest of the heard and into a smaller pen that has a 3 sided barn, but just getting them headed in the right direction is near impossible. Good thing the bull we bred them to throws small calves.

[jerzeygurl]

cold is better than rain any day. the rain will kill them faster than sub freezing will.