Calf Coats?

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Stocker Steve

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Central Minnesota
I try to calve on grass but purchased cows calve when they are ready. The first one had an 89# bull calf last night next to my portable calving barn (a hay ring with the sheet metal hay saver). Dried and tagged the calf, cleaned the blood off the round bale, and gave them a nice bed with three bales of oats straw today. Seems to be going fine but we expect a low of zero tonight. At what temp does calf coats make sense?
 
Stocker Steve":3ox3ngvp said:
I try to calve on grass but purchased cows calve when they are ready. The first one had an 89# bull calf last night next to my portable calving barn (a hay ring with the sheet metal hay saver). Dried and tagged the calf, cleaned the blood off the round bale, and gave them a nice bed with three bales of oats straw today. Seems to be going fine but we expect a low of zero tonight. At what temp does calf coats make sense?
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well we have calved in some dang colt weather and blizzards cuse sometime people think feb is a good month to calve. never have used a calf coat. most we have done it if they can get into the trees for wind break we will use a processpr and put down windrows of straw. different places not just one long windrow some here and there so if they get ready to calve they can get away. or if it is too snowy we have piled banks up high and put straw behind them. seems like long as the calf is born on the pile of straw we havnt had a problem. they get hunkered down in there no wind and warm right up plus most the time the cow will lay down by them and have calf between her from legs. but anymore we are try and calve for end of march or april now.
 
I wouldn't mess with calf coats on calves that are with the cow. I use them on my dairy calves and have been pleased with them. I just think it would be a pain to catch them and get it on and off.
 
novaman":3pgq47eu said:
I wouldn't mess with calf coats on calves that are with the cow. I use them on my dairy calves and have been pleased with them. I just think it would be a pain to catch them and get it on and off.
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I could get them on OK, off may be a problem.
I plan to buy in more oats straw this August.
 
The only time I use any sort of a blanket or coat is on bottle calves or newborns (hours old) that are born in really, really cold weather. As long as the calf is dried off, has a belly full of milk and somewhere out of the wind he should be just fine.
 

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