Calf Size

[bizybeehill]

A neighbor had a calf yesterday and he seemed to be very small. The cow raised a good calf last year and is about 6 year old angus. He used a new bull (angus) for this season and this years calf I quess weighs about 50 pounds and seemed to be weak. We got the calf and cow penned up and milked her and got some into the calf. He is attempting to nurse but we havent seen him nurse yet. My question is what is the average calf size for blk angus?

I think we may have been worried more because of his size than anything else. Any thoughts ??

 

[dun]

Some calves are small, some are big. This year out of our Red Angus bull the avergae BW out of cows and heifers was around 56 pounds. Those calves now at 6 6 1/2 months are as big as any of the others. I would be much more concerned about the lack of vigor in the calf then the size. Is it maybe a little early? Tube it if you need to and maybe some selenium should perk it up. Usually after a good meal or 2 they catch on to where the real thing is and start to nurse with no problem.

 

[bizybeehill]

How long should you wait to see if they nurse on thier own ? Im guessing that the calf was no more the 4 to 6 hours old when we stepped in. He definatly was not as active some I has seen but we was nice and dry and when we picked him to to take him to the pen he called some as I rode with him on the bush hog, his mother in pursuit. We just didnt want to wait too long and lose the calf with out doing what we could to make sure he made it. My neighbor is a very experienced ole farmer and he didnt like the way he looked. He is still alive this morning.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Is there a set time for when the bull was out there?
We had a premmie this spring. She was about 12 days early. weak and small also. Had to help her nurse. Once she got going good she was fine. Nice size calf now.
we like to see them up and nursing no later then 2-3 hours after birth.

 

[Frankie]

A neighbor had a calf yesterday and he seemed to be very small. The cow raised a good calf last year and is about 6 year old angus. He used a new bull (angus) for this season and this years calf I quess weighs about 50 pounds and seemed to be weak. We got the calf and cow penned up and milked her and got some into the calf. He is attempting to nurse but we havent seen him nurse yet. My question is what is the average calf size for blk angus?

I think we may have been worried more because of his size than anything else. Any thoughts ??

The average BWs of Angus calves reported to the Angus Assn through their AHIR program last year was 80 lbs for bulls, 75 lbs for heifers. These are registered cattle birthweights. We've had a couple of small ones this year, too, 67 and 68 lbs. But they both got right up and nursed and are very active. Both were much earlier than expected. I just hope they grow.

 

[dun]

How long should you wait to see if they nurse on thier own ? Im guessing that the calf was no more the 4 to 6 hours old when we stepped in. He definatly was not as active some I has seen but we was nice and dry and when we picked him to to take him to the pen he called some as I rode with him on the bush hog, his mother in pursuit. We just didnt want to wait too long and lose the calf with out doing what we could to make sure he made it. My neighbor is a very experienced ole farmer and he didnt like the way he looked. He is still alive this morning.

If it isn;t nursing at least twice a day I'ld keep feeding it till it is. Make sure it's actually getting milk from the cow

 

[Alan]

I too think the problem is a lack of vigor or strength rather than size. It's does sound a bit small, but.... A few years back I had a Polled Hereford heifer calve out, her heifer calf weighed 26lbs, plenty of vigor and nursed just fine. I gave her to my mentor friend and his wife when she weaned, they ate her at about 3 yrs old, she weighed about 800lbs. To weigh her I scooped her up with one arm, felt like I was carrying a cocker spaniel. The cow threw a better calf the next year but still on the small side, but normal, she was one of my first culls.

Alan

 

[bizybeehill]

Well the calf will take a bottle but the most we can get into him is about a pint at a time. He will get up and try to nurse on his mama but seems to be too weak to really get hooked up. Everytime she moves or bauks up he falls. How much should we be getting into him with bottle ? We guess he is one or maybe two months early. When the vet checked the cows a couple of weeks ago he said that his mom was about 7 months. We have a tube in case he gets real weak. Any other suggestions ?

 

[Victoria]

Something that our vet told us that works well with Preemies - feed 1 can carnation milk mixed with 2 cans water and 2 TBSP of plain yogurt. It's good for the digestive system. He should be able to eat it in one feeding, sometimes they can't finish it, check the stomach to see if it is full. One thing with preemies - they eat less each meal but need more frequent feeding. Give a vitamin A&D shot. If you are lacking in selenium in your area give a Selenium and Vitamin E shot.
Good luck, hope it works. Keep us posted.

 

[cfpinz]

My parents had two calves from their BA bull this year that were under 35 lbs. Full term calves, doing fine. Rest of the calves were normal.

cfpinz

 

[rockridgecattle]

A tip our vet gave us is on the teeth. The calf's teeth start to emerge about threee weeks prior to birth. So depending on the length of the teeth could tell how premie it is. Fully exposed close to term. So so exposed any where up to three weeks early.
We had a problem simillar to this during this calving season. Really weak and not premie. We did everything we could. It got better then went down hill after it got out side of the barn. Outside it ran and played. Next thing it was worse off. Rushed to the vet to find out it had a heart defect, hole in the heart.
So here we were, spent a fair amount of dollars trying to get it healthy and wow there was nothing we could do.
I'm not saying this is your problem, but what i am saying is if it does not show improvement after a few days, get a vet involved before you spend much time and money on what could be a no win situation.
Some questions here...
Were the mothers ML pre breeding vaccinated? If not you could be looking at an unthrifty calf due to disease of a PI mother....just a thought...
has the mother been wormed....could have taken a toll on her during gestation if not...
Mineral ingestion by the mother...adequate...could be a mineral defficiency during gestation...
feed quality...are you in a drought and the feed was low on protien?...
again these are jsut thoughts...

 

[pdfangus]

calf size is influenced just as much by environment as it is by genetics.

we have widespread drought in our area and it really changed our calf weights.

we have Registered angus. Average weights are in the 75 to 80 lb range. Ocassionally have a big one that hangs up around a hundred. anything below sixty is small.

this year the average was about sixty with a lot in the fifties and the biggest calf of the year around 85 lbs.

We normally start calving around labor day. AI all cows and wait three weeks and either rebreed or expose to bull. normally have a bunch of calves to start and the rest stagger along.

Most years in our country the early AI calves are the small ones regardless of the bw epd of the AI bulls used. But usually in that window we get some fall rain and cooler temps and the fescue starts jumping and the second round of calves are 10 to 15 lbs heavier. I have documented this over the last 10 years.

 

[msscamp]

How long should you wait to see if they nurse on thier own ?

We generally gave them 30 minutes, an hour at most. If they hadn't sucked, we jump started them with a pint of milk. Granted - we started calving mid-March, but the longer a calf goes without colostrum, the less they can readily absorb, and the greater the problems are - both now, as well as long term. The number one job of any cow/calf producer is to make sure that calf gets as much colostrum as possible, as soon as possible, under any given set of circumstances.

 

[pdfangus]

calf size is influenced just as much by environment as it is by genetics.

we have widespread drought in our area and it really changed our calf weights.

we have Registered angus. Average weights are in the 75 to 80 lb range. Ocassionally have a big one that hangs up around a hundred. anything below sixty is small.

this year the average was about sixty with a lot in the fifties and the biggest calf of the year around 85 lbs.

We normally start calving around labor day. AI all cows and wait three weeks and either rebreed or expose to bull. normally have a bunch of calves to start and the rest stagger along.

Most years in our country the early AI calves are the small ones regardless of the bw epd of the AI bulls used. But usually in that window we get some fall rain and cooler temps and the fescue starts jumping and the second round of calves are 10 to 15 lbs heavier. I have documented this over the last 10 years.

after posting this yesterday I went home to find that one of the three remaining cows we have to calve this year, did in fact find her baby yesterday.

Now this calf was 8 days late from an AI service and was sired by Grid Maker and out of a Fame daughter and is probably the nicest calf we have had this year so far but she clocked in at at 98 pounds. Due to the prolonger drought we have the worst grass situation now that we have had in the fall, ever.

 

[ga. prime]

At least 90% of my angus sired calves have a BW of 83lb. This from continental and continentalxbritish cows. It's the darndest thing.

 

[bizybeehill]

Well we had the vet out and we gave a shot of selenium. We too are in a sever drought. At the vets direction we are feeding three times a day. He is now taking about two pints at a time. The vet first said only to fed twice a day so he would be hungry some and try to nurse but he got weaker. He still keeps trying but just has not got the hang of is. He was hopping around a little yesterday so I guess time will tell. It has been so dry here that grass is getting really short and hay very hard to make and expensive to buy. My neighbor and I have been considering selling everything that eats grass now. Selling what hay we have in the barn and buying back in the spring IF the drought breaks.