Posted on Facebook by: Ranchers and Cattlemen in Canada
Things you need to have and know if you are new to keeping cows.
What should you have? The basics….
1. Facilities, no, they don’t have to be fancy, but you should have a way to restrain a cow. Depending on size this can be a gate that swings back against a fence (this works great for calves until they get too big), a wooden chute that ends with a headgate will work pretty good even for cows, although it doesn’t completely restrain them. But it will work for injections. To a full on set up with a bud box/crowding tub, various chutes ending in some sort of squeeze chute. Manual, automatic head catch….if you only have a few head it doesn’t matter. We run 300 cows and have all of the above, the main one is a HiHog set up, Tub, S-Alley, and manual squeeze with an auto headgate and neck extender. It is set up at the main yard where we do the majority of the processing work, branding, vaccinations etc. We have a wooden chute with a headgate on the end at one pasture, where the most we really do is treat the odd animal with footrot or pinkeye. At another pasture it is a metal pipe chute ending in a homemade squeeze with auto headgate.
2. A vet or someone knowledgeable that you can contact if you are having issues. A vet is pretty important, because they should have the skills to diagnose health problems you may run into, help with major calving issues, etc. Plus at least here in Canada, you cannot buy ANY antibiotics without a prescription from a vet, and in fact most farm supply stores do not even carry antibiotics any longer. Same goes with vaccines.
3. A THERMOMETER!!!! This is the basically the cheapest and most useful thing you will buy. From bottle calves, to feeders to cow, the thermometer will tell you if your animal has a problem or not. You don’t need anything fancy… just go to the drugstore and buy yourself a digital thermometer. The bigger the better, but take what you can find. I just bought 2 of the ones pictured…$17 each.
4. A halter, rope cattle halter, horse halter with lead, nylon cow halter with lead…doesn’t matter. This is so you can restrain their head so you can work around them safely. Think about trying to dig a grass seed out of an eye without having the head restrained, or lancing an abscess. This will save you a broken nose or banged up face…
Things you should know…
Basics
1. A cow needs to eat approximately 2% to 2.5% of it’s bodyweight
2. Cows do best with friends, they are herd animals.
3. You should take the strings or wrap off your bales…cows will eat it and it can get balled up and cause problems in the future.
4. If your cow or heifer is sucking another one….she won’t ever stop. Your best option is to sell her.
5. You will get a better price for your cattle if they are similar in type to what the other cattle in your area are. Don’t expect top price if it is an off breed, skinny, poor hair coat, frozen ears, etc.
6. Bulls fight, cows fight, this is how they figure out the pecking order.
Health
1. The average temp of a cow is 101.7, this varies a little 100 to 102.5 for Cows and 101.5 to 103.5 for calves.
2. Cows…that is mature cows and yearlings, can have diarrhea without being ill. Especially when they are on fresh green grass, high quality hay, or if they are stressed about something!
3. You should vaccinate your cows. At least for the basics, Blackleg 8-way and BVD are my suggestions. For other suggestions talk to a vet and/or other cattle people in your area.
4. Cows can have snotty or runny noses and eyes without being sick.
5. Sick cows can be pretty good at hiding it. BUT, there’s usually a few signs, they will stand ‘hunched’ up, their ears will be droopy, they will drag their feet.
6. Not every runny or cloudy eye is pinkeye…be sure to check for a foreign object. Not every lameness is footrot!
7. Ringworm and warts will not kill your cow, in fact they will usually disappear on their own. Also once you have them in your herd…they are there to stay and will show up again, and again, and again…
8. Itchy cows don’t always have lice. It’s probably lice, but not always. Cows are itchier in the spring when they are shedding out. Lice is pretty easy to treat and there are a lot of options out there. Cows like to scratch, its only a problem when they start scratching their hair off.
9. If your cow has pneumonia, drugs like penicillin and LA200 or 300 probably aren’t going to make them better!
10. Bloat can be a sign of pneumonia
11. If your cow goes down it is NEVER a good thing. Cows that go down usually don’t have a good outcome….again, I know…miracle stories, but usually…not good. If she’s down for more that 2-5 days she isn’t going to get up.
12. Cows don’t do well with broken bones, especially legs. They are too big as a general rule to heal and if it can be fixed, often they won’t handle being locked up long enough for it to heal. Small calves on the other hand can often be fixed especially if it is below the knee or hock. I know there’s miracle stories out there, but usually if its bigger than 300 lbs, or if the break is above the hock/knee the outcome is never going to be good. Better to end the suffering earlier than later.
Things you need to have and know if you are new to keeping cows.
What should you have? The basics….
1. Facilities, no, they don’t have to be fancy, but you should have a way to restrain a cow. Depending on size this can be a gate that swings back against a fence (this works great for calves until they get too big), a wooden chute that ends with a headgate will work pretty good even for cows, although it doesn’t completely restrain them. But it will work for injections. To a full on set up with a bud box/crowding tub, various chutes ending in some sort of squeeze chute. Manual, automatic head catch….if you only have a few head it doesn’t matter. We run 300 cows and have all of the above, the main one is a HiHog set up, Tub, S-Alley, and manual squeeze with an auto headgate and neck extender. It is set up at the main yard where we do the majority of the processing work, branding, vaccinations etc. We have a wooden chute with a headgate on the end at one pasture, where the most we really do is treat the odd animal with footrot or pinkeye. At another pasture it is a metal pipe chute ending in a homemade squeeze with auto headgate.
2. A vet or someone knowledgeable that you can contact if you are having issues. A vet is pretty important, because they should have the skills to diagnose health problems you may run into, help with major calving issues, etc. Plus at least here in Canada, you cannot buy ANY antibiotics without a prescription from a vet, and in fact most farm supply stores do not even carry antibiotics any longer. Same goes with vaccines.
3. A THERMOMETER!!!! This is the basically the cheapest and most useful thing you will buy. From bottle calves, to feeders to cow, the thermometer will tell you if your animal has a problem or not. You don’t need anything fancy… just go to the drugstore and buy yourself a digital thermometer. The bigger the better, but take what you can find. I just bought 2 of the ones pictured…$17 each.
4. A halter, rope cattle halter, horse halter with lead, nylon cow halter with lead…doesn’t matter. This is so you can restrain their head so you can work around them safely. Think about trying to dig a grass seed out of an eye without having the head restrained, or lancing an abscess. This will save you a broken nose or banged up face…
Things you should know…
Basics
1. A cow needs to eat approximately 2% to 2.5% of it’s bodyweight
2. Cows do best with friends, they are herd animals.
3. You should take the strings or wrap off your bales…cows will eat it and it can get balled up and cause problems in the future.
4. If your cow or heifer is sucking another one….she won’t ever stop. Your best option is to sell her.
5. You will get a better price for your cattle if they are similar in type to what the other cattle in your area are. Don’t expect top price if it is an off breed, skinny, poor hair coat, frozen ears, etc.
6. Bulls fight, cows fight, this is how they figure out the pecking order.
Health
1. The average temp of a cow is 101.7, this varies a little 100 to 102.5 for Cows and 101.5 to 103.5 for calves.
2. Cows…that is mature cows and yearlings, can have diarrhea without being ill. Especially when they are on fresh green grass, high quality hay, or if they are stressed about something!
3. You should vaccinate your cows. At least for the basics, Blackleg 8-way and BVD are my suggestions. For other suggestions talk to a vet and/or other cattle people in your area.
4. Cows can have snotty or runny noses and eyes without being sick.
5. Sick cows can be pretty good at hiding it. BUT, there’s usually a few signs, they will stand ‘hunched’ up, their ears will be droopy, they will drag their feet.
6. Not every runny or cloudy eye is pinkeye…be sure to check for a foreign object. Not every lameness is footrot!
7. Ringworm and warts will not kill your cow, in fact they will usually disappear on their own. Also once you have them in your herd…they are there to stay and will show up again, and again, and again…
8. Itchy cows don’t always have lice. It’s probably lice, but not always. Cows are itchier in the spring when they are shedding out. Lice is pretty easy to treat and there are a lot of options out there. Cows like to scratch, its only a problem when they start scratching their hair off.
9. If your cow has pneumonia, drugs like penicillin and LA200 or 300 probably aren’t going to make them better!
10. Bloat can be a sign of pneumonia
11. If your cow goes down it is NEVER a good thing. Cows that go down usually don’t have a good outcome….again, I know…miracle stories, but usually…not good. If she’s down for more that 2-5 days she isn’t going to get up.
12. Cows don’t do well with broken bones, especially legs. They are too big as a general rule to heal and if it can be fixed, often they won’t handle being locked up long enough for it to heal. Small calves on the other hand can often be fixed especially if it is below the knee or hock. I know there’s miracle stories out there, but usually if its bigger than 300 lbs, or if the break is above the hock/knee the outcome is never going to be good. Better to end the suffering earlier than later.
