After calving practices?

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BryanM

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ohio
I am interested in what you do after calf hits the ground and is good to go. For example: do you immediately put calf and cow back in her? or do you give shots, band put in pen for a day or two? or maybe the pair goes back in herd but you have where calves can get away from cows and rest?

I am interested because as my hobby grows and more calves hit the ground, with smaller facilities and bad weather I need to figure out what plan I need to follow without mistakes being made(loosing calves). So I thought I might get a few ideas from the more experienced.
 
I don't take them out of the herd to calve. If one had to be separated to assist once I know calf is sucking she goes back to the rest. I don't want any special needs cows. I do keep a watchful eye on the newborns to make sure they are being taken care of. I will band and tag if I have to handle calf when its born, If not I wait till I work cows and then cut and tag then.
 
Depends on weather and which cow it is. Heifers are penned up with calf for a couple of days to make sure they are getting along fine. Mature cows calve outside, as long as the weather is nice I leave them be. If I suspect something is wrong, or its not drinking right - they will be penned and watched for a while as well. I do have a little shack of sorts that only the calves can run in, some use it some don't.. But its bedded, portable, and allows them in out of the weather.

I tag and band within a day or 2. Ensure both nuts are well under the band, and if you ever doubt how well the band is in place, remove it and either try again, or give it some time and come back and try later when their nuts drop better.
 
I just tag them, no vaccines and we do not castrate. Cows calve with the herd or more common leave the herd some distance by themselves for calving. All are spring calves, I might add.
 
all of our cows and heifers are calved on pasture and stay there.if theres a problem its taken care in pasture if possable.if not then they are put in the pen.
 
I'll pen the younger cows with a calf for a day if I can, I have a "maternity ward", they'll stay there for a couple days, then they get tossed out after I band and tag them. I found I have much tamer calves if I can keep them away from the rowdy bunch for a few days and they get to know me as well as momma.
 
Shortly before calving starts we pull the bull and move the heifers to a pasture closer to the chute. If there are going to be problems they are the ones I would expect it from. At spring workup they and their calves go back in with the rest of the cows. About the only thing we do regularly is go out and walk among the cows and calves to get them accustomed to it and do a head count.
 
Calve in good weather like May/June and enjoy watching them.


People are pretty good at making a high investment/low profit enterprise pretty complicated.
 
I don't do anything special. I do make a conscious effort to see a calf everyday, the first 4 days of it's life.
 
We calve in the pasture during the peak of the season we will run through each pasture two to three times a day. We tag and weigh the calf iodine on the cord.

Gizmom
 
We Calve in March and April. It can be pretty nasty and cold or it can be really nice...
Here's a picture of our setup...
Our%20Yard_zpsxshmj6i7.jpg


Our calving routine is (if the weather is nice and there are no issues)
1. cows are sorted about once a week to pull the heavies off, they are then put in the Main Calving area
2. They stay there until they are calving/or have calved.
3. Once the calf is around 24 hours old (we catch them when they are up and moving around, sleeping calves don't move very well) the are brought up through the barn yard, tagged, weighed, banded, etc.
4. They go out into the Maternity Area, where they will usually stay til they are between a week and 2 weeks old.
5. They are then kicked out into one of the bigger pastures, where they will stay until the pastures are ready for them. We will usually have a calf shelter where they can get out of bad weather if they need to.

If we have issues at calving, (mothering, weather or calving problems), the cows will be brought into the barn and dealt with and once the calf is up, dried off and going good they will be kicked out with the other pairs.

If the weather is nasty (I'm talking blizzardy or really cold (below 25 or so F), we keep them in the barn as long as possible, and if we do have to move them out to bring new cows in we only kick them out in the middle of the afternoon, when it is as warm and nice as possible. We will double them up in the stalls, or keep the calves in and kick the cows out and rotate them back in for the calves to suck if needed. Usually once they've had a few hours to dry off and have sucked good several times they are pretty tough, and our Maternity Area has a couple of calf shelters and an area where only the calves can get in, it faces the south and is very sheltered.
 
The cows calve out on pasture. I'll give them some time together and not bother them. If I am watching the birth, I stay until I see the calf suck the first time. If it's born of the morning, I may tag him that afternoon or the next day. Any longer than that and I have to concentrate on catching the calf, and not on where mommas at :lol2: I'll watch him for a few days pretty close, for scours and to make sure he's getting enough to eat. No injections or anything like that is given unless there is a problem.
 
I like to put heifers in a smaller pasture closest to the house for calving so I can watch them through the window without it being a hassle to check on them.

As soon as I can get to my calves after birth they get their cords dipped in Iodine, Nasogen vaccine up their nose, Rota Corona vaccine in their mouth, and a Selenium shot.
I will usually dip the navel a couple more times in the next 24 hrs.
It only takes one time of having Navel Ill to convince me preventing it is best. Same with scours. Haven't seen either for a very long time.
 
branguscowgirl":3qeysqdm said:
I like to put heifers in a smaller pasture closest to the house for calving so I can watch them through the window without it being a hassle to check on them.

As soon as I can get to my calves after birth they get their cords dipped in Iodine, Nasogen vaccine up their nose, Rota Corona vaccine in their mouth, and a Selenium shot.
I will usually dip the navel a couple more times in the next 24 hrs.
It only takes one time of having Navel Ill to convince me preventing it is best. Same with scours. Haven't seen either for a very long time.
Click to expand...

My goodness, what would you do if you had a couple hundred?
 
They are less likely to pick up navel Ill or scours if they can be out on a cleaner pasture than in a corral full of mud and crap. So if I do have to bring them in, I put down plenty of straw. And get them back out as soon as I can.
I calve in spring/summer for the most part, so weather is not usually an issue. However I do flood irrigate and need to move them to dry ground if they are calving at irrigation time.
 
AllForage":vjnblnl8 said:
branguscowgirl":vjnblnl8 said:
I like to put heifers in a smaller pasture closest to the house for calving so I can watch them through the window without it being a hassle to check on them.

As soon as I can get to my calves after birth they get their cords dipped in Iodine, Nasogen vaccine up their nose, Rota Corona vaccine in their mouth, and a Selenium shot.
I will usually dip the navel a couple more times in the next 24 hrs.
It only takes one time of having Navel Ill to convince me preventing it is best. Same with scours. Haven't seen either for a very long time.
Click to expand...

My goodness, what would you do if you had a couple hundred?
Click to expand...
Well I guess that I would be busy, wouldn't I? :cboy:

My program may not be feasible with "a couple hundred". But how many people reading this have that many. What works for some, won't work for all. :D
 
Like branguscg, I hold mine in small pasture in front of the house, this way I can sip my morning coffee, nibble on a couple of ginger snaps and count cows. New calves I try to get to as soon as I can after mom cleans her/him up, the older I get the stronger the calves seem to get. I dip the navel a shot of bo-se, a shot of vit a+d. Ear tag, white for Bulls, yellow for heifers, I'll also band the Bulls at the same time. I try my best to do this within the first 12 hours, 3 hours is easier. I should say I also will walk out to check the health and sex of the calf asap in order to get my kit ready to go to work. The herd bull has been pulled a month earlier. First vaccine and worming comes at weaning time, if they don't get vaccinated and wormed it means it's straight on a trailer.
 
Alan":393k8qox said:
AllForage":393k8qox said:
^ thanks that was very deep
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Hobby guy hater?
Click to expand...
:lol: I didn't know that I needed to get "deep" in my explanation.......I simply do what I do because I prevent future problems in my small herd. Many people coming here for advice or ideas are small enough to practice good preventive health in their cattle.
 

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