Never calved in January before. At what point, temperature wise, do you begin to worry about a 4 to 5 day old calf surviving cold temps? I put a calf coat on her and shes out of the wind with momma. Plenty of bedding. She has been nursing well. It was zero this morning and she seemed fine. So far so good. Forecast tonight is for 10-15 below. Winds 10-25mph. Above zero tomorrow and for the next week. Should I bring her in the garage or leave her with momma? Makes me really nervous with this cold snap.
Cold temps and a new calf
- Thread starter Craig
- Start date
Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
Once they get a belly full of milk they are hard to stop.
A.J.
Well-known member
I get nervous too when mine calve in weather like that. I know your winters up there are a lot more severe than what we have, but I'd say the calf will be alright out with momma. If it was a newborn and hadn't had a chance to suck yet and move around to get its blood flowing I might lean towards putting them up, but with it being a few days old and nursing good I bet it will be ok. Good bedding and being out of the wind makes a big difference.
Crazy Farmgirl
Well-known member
She will be fine. Sounds like they have protection from the weather. So long as mom has plenty of quality feed and water and baby is nursing all is good! They are quite resilient, mine don't get coats and do great.
Galloways1
Well-known member
If they can get out of the wind, they will be fine. As RBB said, once they get a belly full, they are tough.
We are calving now, -20 air temps, -40 windchills. We wrap the ears back to save them, bed them and they are good.
We calve them out of a 3 sided open pole building.
We are calving now, -20 air temps, -40 windchills. We wrap the ears back to save them, bed them and they are good.
We calve them out of a 3 sided open pole building.
She seems to be a strong calf! Nursing well and up and about. Actually saw her run today. Hate to lose any calf, but being shes a heifer it would make it worse. All the other girls are carrying bull calves except the possibility of one that we didn't have ultra sounded. So much for choosing which heifers to retain this year!
Nite Hawk
Well-known member
The worst time for the calf to experiance the extreme cold is when they have just hit the ground and are cold and wet, and the first 24-48 hours they can have trouble regulating their body temp. Like one said earlier once they have a belly full of colostrum and are dry and on their feet and a couple days old they are usually pretty good with the cold as long as they have a wind break a dry place to lay down, and mom to look after them.
Personally I have never heard of taping their ears back before in the cold. I have always understood they might lose their ears when they are wet and first born. They can also lose their tails if frozen. I have seen calves that have lost their ability to walk properly after being frozen, but that is usually not too common, its usually ears and tails that suffer the most..
Personally I have never heard of taping their ears back before in the cold. I have always understood they might lose their ears when they are wet and first born. They can also lose their tails if frozen. I have seen calves that have lost their ability to walk properly after being frozen, but that is usually not too common, its usually ears and tails that suffer the most..
I would'nt leave the coat on to long as it'll start losing it's hair. I know because I left it on too long. Talking about freezing ears and tails, I would throw feet in there too. I had a calf found almost frozen, saved him and thought everything was fine until one morning while jumping and kicking, throwed both hind feet off. Broke off just above the hooves.
Well I went out to check this morning and my black calf was white! She was up and nursing looking pretty good, except for the light covering of frost! Hearty little bugger she is!
Roadapple, how long did you leave it on?
Roadapple, how long did you leave it on?
gonzo
Well-known member
It sure is tough on'm that cold , might make her smarter or tougher (the good way) She's a keeper anyway so there is a bright side. :tiphat:
Galloways1
Well-known member
Here is a pic of one of ours born @ -25 F. Barn is a tin walled pole shed. No "Hot Box", wrap and tape ears back, and good to go.
A
Anonymous
Like it was said, cold and wet the first 2 days are hard on them. We had a 2 day old calf that laid up in a low spot while it rained on a 28f day. She wouldn't move out of what ended up bein a puddle. I picked her up and took her to the barn, dried her off with mom looking over my shoulder. She was shivering the whole time. I don't know what would have happened if she would have stayed wet
