CALF QUESTIONS

[RICHARDL]

I have a month old healthy bull calf. (Angus) Is there anything i need to be ware of , things i need to do to keep him healthy? Do i just wait till my spring vaccanation time , to get him vac.?
He is in very good healt right now. Not sure what i'm going to do with him just yet. What about his momma? She seems a little poor after giving birth. Shes a good momma cow doesn't seem like she's in poor heal just seem like she's lost a bit of weight. any worries there? :cowboy:

 

[farmwriter]

I have a month old healthy bull calf. (Angus) Is there anything i need to be ware of , things i need to do to keep him healthy? Do i just wait till my spring vaccanation time , to get him vac.?

I wouldn't wait much past 3 mos. on blkleg vaccination, but I don't know what the biggest threats are in your area.

He is in very good healt right now. Not sure what i'm going to do with him just yet. What about his momma? She seems a little poor after giving birth. Shes a good momma cow doesn't seem like she's in poor heal just seem like she's lost a bit of weight. any worries there? :cowboy:

How much is a bit? Nursing cows have high nutritional needs. Is she on fading summer pasture, clover, rye? Getting any hay or supplements?

 

[RICHARDL]

To me she seems skinny. she a 5 year old. Yea shes on almost gone pasture, but i already put out hay. they get minerals & feed 2 times a week. not a lot of feed but some. she eats fine. I'm getting mineral tubs this weekend for them. I have rye planted for later on. But she getting plenty of hay. I don't think black leg is a trhreat but i'll ask the vet on that one. Just not sure about the momma. :cowboy:

 

[angie1]

The only thing I would suggest is to castrate your calf as soon as you can. What are your plans for him ~ raise him for yourself to eat, sell after weaning? The rest depends on who you talk to ~ some will say leave him be, some will say vaccinate now, some at weaning. My advice would be dependent on your plans for him. I would not worry so much about the cow ~ it is not uncommon for them to get pulled down a bit by a calf, and it sounds like you are giving her what she should have. If she needs more than that then I suggest you sell her at weaning. Does she seem to be abnormally pulled down by it? Calf is growing nice?

 

[RICHARDL]

THAT'S the problem i have . i need to make the descion on what my plans are for him. He comes from good gentices or so i am told. I've been playing with 2 different ideals. : one was to keep him and get rid of momma cow and the bull i have now. I have a lbw bull to use on my heifers now but he isn't what i want in the future. hes young but I don't think he'll be what i want. Secondly would be sell him later to re-coup the $$ i paid for his momma & another one i bought preg.
as far as momma cow No she doesn't seem to pulled down. i'll give her sometime after weaning to see how she bounces back. Its kinda funny because out of the 2 i bought preg. the other nicer look cow, well i lost the heifer calf she had. This one doesn't look nearly as good and that little calf in a month more than double his weight he was born Oct. 5 very nice calf up and going in a know time. So i hate to butcher him if he turns out to be a nice bull for the future. i've seen some of this other guys bulls and none to shabby. :cowboy:

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

You should go to this site to learn how to judge cattle body condition:
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/beef/400-795/photos1-9.html
Cows can starve to death bellie deep in grass or a feeder full of hay, if the hay/grass does not meet her nutritional requirements. Not all hay is created equal. Some hay could not keep a dry cow in decent condition.
So you need to determine what condition your cow is in. She should be in a 5 BCS with only a 1 month old calf nursing her. If she looks thin to you now, she was probably thin when she was pregnant, just harder to notice when her bellie is full of calf.
All the genetics in the world cannot produce good cattle if they don't have the nutrition to grow. The cows milk production for the bull calf will depend on her condition.
Feeding grain twice week is absolutely no help to your cow. Cattle's digestive system works on bugs. These bugs are developed on what they eat. She does not have the bugs set up in her system to utilize grain if only fed twice a week. Not saying it's hurting her, just a waste of your money - unless it makes you feel better. :lol2:
Cow & calf should be dewormed. You should check with your vet on vaccinations for your area.
If you plan on breeding your cows for fall calving next year, they should get their vaccinations about 30 days prior to breeding.

 

[RICHARDL]

thanks, i'd say shes a 5, And yea she was a little thin than i wanted to see while she was preg. I feed them grain 2 times a week to keep them trained up, rotate from field to field and i mix there minerals in with the feed to make sure they get that. Its not costing me that much to make sure they come with i need them too. the other 5 preg. heifers & my 2 year old bull are all in very good shape on the same grass. And lately hay. I just wonder if i need to try to build her up more with more feed or just wait and see? they are eating hay like crazy. even though there is still some green grass in the pasture.
So cow & calf can be dewormed now. And i'm going to chat with the vet for that. the rest were all givin there shots.
Thanks all very good info will definetly use this info. :cowboy:

 

[RICHARDL]

I TAKE THAT BACK after looking at photos of cattle scoring i'd say a not a 5 but 4 Shes a 4 i'll go with that. Her bags seems full. And the little guy is growing fast than abad weed. he's all over the place. So i pretty sure he's gettin enough to eat

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I TAKE THAT BACK after looking at photos of cattle scoring i'd say a not a 5 but 4 Shes a 4 i'll go with that. Her bags seems full. And the little guy is growing fast than abad weed. he's all over the place. So i pretty sure he's gettin enough to eat

But, if she is a BCS of 4, he will outgrow her milk supply, and will start getting less thrifty. Is she the only one nursing a calf?
By all rights, a 5 yr old cow should be able to raise her calf just fine on hay. But, if she calved thin, she's not going to get better BCS nursing, without a daily increase in nutrtion.
BTW - mineral needs to be available 24/7 - not a couple times a week.

 

[RICHARDL]

ok, so what do i need to do, keep her seperate from the rest of the herd and feed the shick out of her? worm her? I'm here to learn.
And i did leave minerals out 24/7 they let it go to waste most of the time. so i just mix it up with the feed. they'll leave a little but not much. After i started to do this i noticed they look a lot better. coats are nice and shinny. good color, more energy. So if i leave minerals out 24/7 And they don't touch it, does that mean they don't need it.? I have good grass from spring thru summer so usually i supply minerals in the fall thru winter. either with mineral tubs or i'm using Purnia wind & rain All Season. AFter i run out its Anapro? mineral tub. along with trace minerals
tHANKS AGAIN :cowboy:

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

If you notice a difference with feeding only 2 x week, they were needing it. If it takes mixing with feed to get them to eat it, it must not be palatable. Might try a different brand.
Also, just because they are getting good green grass in summer does not mean they don't need mineral suppliments. Loose mineral should be fed free-choice 24/7/365.
Look up "Dun's mineral feeder" in "Search". We use the 50 gal drums hung from trees to keep loose mineral in front of ours.
You definately should deworm her & all the others. You didn't answer, are you planning on rebreeding her for a fall calf next year?

 

[RICHARDL]

OH YEA, SORRY, definetly going to re-breed. yes to that. Yea i've seen Duns feeder. I'm working on that. I've also saw one that has the back rubber hanging all around it made of wood. very nice. Got that on the adjanda What OTHER kinda of mineral should i try. I had a safe guard block out for a spell. and i gave them all Ivermec in the spring Vet told me once in the spring was good. How are the safe guard pellets? seen those around also. See as far as Minerals i was once told that when you start feeding hay in late fall you shoud aslo put out minerals not in the summer with green pastures, will check on that though, ANd yes i definetly noticed a change giving them mineral 2X a week really i feed them mineral with 12% sweet feed on Mondays & fridays. Which brings to mine another Question. is 12% enough. or should i feed them something completely differnet. I tried corn, & rice brand mix last winter. Of course they loved it. Maybe a increase in %% ??? What about feeding her? should i seperate her andthe calf and giver her more feed??? didn't answer my question ha ha. :cowboy:

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Richard - I'm not one for saying "pour the grain to her". We are a purebred c/c operation, but we handle our cattle more like a commercial herd. Cows have to work for living. Grass in summer, hay in winter - no grain. We do grain our weaned calves thru the time they are bred in the spring. Than, as yearlings, they are turned out on grass with the cowherd, never to get grain again, --- unless, they make it to our showstring -- than they get a little grain for show condition.
But, our cattle are in good BCS 6 - 7 PRIOR to calving.
If your cow is a 4 BCS, and you CAN seperate her for extra grain daily, it should pay for itself, with her milk production & getting rebred timely.
Another option, if she will settle in the condition she's in, you might set up a "creep" area for the calf, and feed the calf grain so he won't have as much demand on the cow - which may help her hold her condition without getting worse.
There's never only 1 way to do things. I'm just concerned that you sort of indicated that she has lost more condition in just the month the calf's been sucking. If a newborn calf is putting a strain on her, a 3-6 month old calf will suck her inside out. She may be a real heavy milking cow.

 

[RICHARDL]

I understand. I'm willing to try it. thanks for that. if i can i'll try to get some photos of her & the calf & the rest of them. ANd i agree that they gotta make it on grass. I'm really not in it for the money. It keeps me out of trouble, keeps my butt off the tractor & I enjoy it. and I'll get fresh beef wheni need it. How much should i give her and what should i give her. corn? sweet feed ? what %%% of protein? thats something i was never told. :cboy: I didn't know i should get him on grain. I didn't think he could. I though that was after weaning or at weaning