Calving season length

[bandit80]

How do most of you count your calving season length. I have always counted the day the cows were due to start calving as the first day. Do others count the day the first calf hits the ground? I usually have cows and heifers that calve a week or so before the due date, so that would add additional days to your calving season. I want as many of my calves in the first 45 days as possible, and by using the day the first calf hits the ground, it adds days.

For instance, my first calf heifers were due to start on Feb. 1 by artificial insemination, and clean-up bull after that. The first calf was born on Jan. 24, and the last calf was born Feb 28. If I use the due date, I had a 28 day calving season for my heifers. If I use the other, I had a 35 day calving season. 28 sounds better, just curious what others use.

 

[RVF]

I use length of breeding season as my definition. Some cows will be up to a week early and some a week late. That would add two weeks to my calving season. If I was counting the number of calves born in the first 21 days, I would use date the first cow actually calved as the start.

 

[randiliana]

We use the breeding season/due dates. This year we have cows due to calve from Feb 25 to Apr 28 or therabouts. We run about 6 weeks for breeding, give or take a few days. Like to have them all on the ground before we start sending cows out to pasture. Of course if we buy something that may skew our calving season some.

 

[dun]

We go by the day the first and last calf is actually born.

 

[Double R Ranch]

We go by the day the first and last calf is actually born.

That's pretty much what we do as well.
Double R

 

[TB-Herefords]

How could you say the length of your calving season is determind by the due date and not the actual calve date. "The calving seasons over but we still have a few to that havent calved because their a few days late." That's like jumbo shrimp, small elephant, Little big man. Do you measure you annual rain fall based on what the weather man predicted or what actually fell? Ask the grass it wont lie. :banana:

 

[msscamp]

How do most of you count your calving season length.

I'm not sure if this answers your question, but the bulls were usually turned out June 1. That made the girls due March 13 but, given that they can be a week to 10 days early, we started monitoring them a week to 10 days prior to March 13th - and that was the beginning of calving season.

 

[Farmer Z]

Perhaps I'm neurotic but I figure it right by the gestation chart. My first possible day according to when I turned the bull in was 02/20 for this year so that when it starts for me. I hope to get everything hatched within 60 days and that generally works out pretty well.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Seems like when we were enrolled in CHAPS with Cornell, they used the date the 2nd mature cow calved as the start of the calving season to count how many calved first 21 DAYS etc.
"Calving Season" is anticipated due dates, but actual calving period is first calf on ground to last calf.

 

[dun]

Perhaps I'm neurotic but I figure it right by the gestation chart. My first possible day according to when I turned the bull in was 02/20 for this year so that when it starts for me. I hope to get everything hatched within 60 days and that generally works out pretty well.

If I did that my calving season would be a week underway and nothing has calved yet. And that's based on known AI dates.