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How cold is too cold for calving?
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<blockquote data-quote="Victoria" data-source="post: 183337" data-attributes="member: 1258"><p>There are too many factors to consider other than just temperature. Dampness is a factor, windchill, day or night, shelter, sun or no sun, etc. DiamondSCattleCo. has a good rule of thumb though for temperature but each individual animal will have different requirements. Just watch and if you have a useless cow you will probably have to help by at least giving the cow a swift kick in the butt.</p><p>We calve our commercial cattle starting middle of Feb. and our purebreds middle of Jan. We do all of our calving on the field, no nice big calving barn here. We do have a small barn for emergencies but we put out LOTS of straw. </p><p>When we had a Charolais bull the calves were cold far more easily we found. I'm not trying to knock Charolais, they are great animals they just didn't work for us. Since switching to a Red Angus bull we haven't brought in a single calf. They still get cold but they get up, move around and have a drink - that is what saves a calf. I do still sometimes dry off the ears a bit. Too easy to lose those on a cold day.</p><p></p><p>Quick story about how tough some calves are and this was a Charolais cross. When I was a kid my sister found a calf on her check that was frozen to the ground. The cow had not looked ready to come and had wandered away from the straw and had the calf on the ice and snow. My sister used a shovel and her horse to dig the dead calf out of the ground to haul away the body. It was when she was just finished that the calf blinked at her. Amazingly enough it was still alive. She brought it to the house and we warmed her up slowly in the tub and got colostrum in her. We had to put her and the cow in the barn for awhile as her hair was missing on the side she froze down. We kept her as a replacement thinking she had to be tough and she was a good cow.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Victoria, post: 183337, member: 1258"] There are too many factors to consider other than just temperature. Dampness is a factor, windchill, day or night, shelter, sun or no sun, etc. DiamondSCattleCo. has a good rule of thumb though for temperature but each individual animal will have different requirements. Just watch and if you have a useless cow you will probably have to help by at least giving the cow a swift kick in the butt. We calve our commercial cattle starting middle of Feb. and our purebreds middle of Jan. We do all of our calving on the field, no nice big calving barn here. We do have a small barn for emergencies but we put out LOTS of straw. When we had a Charolais bull the calves were cold far more easily we found. I'm not trying to knock Charolais, they are great animals they just didn't work for us. Since switching to a Red Angus bull we haven't brought in a single calf. They still get cold but they get up, move around and have a drink - that is what saves a calf. I do still sometimes dry off the ears a bit. Too easy to lose those on a cold day. Quick story about how tough some calves are and this was a Charolais cross. When I was a kid my sister found a calf on her check that was frozen to the ground. The cow had not looked ready to come and had wandered away from the straw and had the calf on the ice and snow. My sister used a shovel and her horse to dig the dead calf out of the ground to haul away the body. It was when she was just finished that the calf blinked at her. Amazingly enough it was still alive. She brought it to the house and we warmed her up slowly in the tub and got colostrum in her. We had to put her and the cow in the barn for awhile as her hair was missing on the side she froze down. We kept her as a replacement thinking she had to be tough and she was a good cow. [/QUOTE]
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