I'm having abnormally large calves!

[Beef Man]

I don't know if there is a answer to your big calf problem. Like many people we used to blame feed but research at Miles City showed that feed had very little to do with birthweight. A few years ago they run tests on cows that were fed like feedlot cattleand cows that were nearly starved and claimed that there was very little difference in birthweights on same bulls. It is a puzzle as we have calved over 100 heifers so far and started out some bigger than normal and now nearing the end and the weights are quite small . Saame bulls and if anything the calves should be larger due to lack of exercise. Winter and spring weather here has been a real brute so these heifers have been yarded for 30 days. As to the bull sireing twins it is'nt the bull that causes twins,it is the cow that ovulates the egg either i or 2 and sometimes the egg will split. So don't sell the bull cause he sired twins as he always plants a few thousands of litle swiming sperm every time.

 

[Nesikep]

good point I forgot to comment about.. the cow is responsible for non-identical twins, and I think identical twins are just chance... though keeping a bulls that come from a twinning line may increase the chances of his daughters having twins... that is a possibility

 

[froggy'scow]

We have had a few larger calves, but generally normal BW. We did recently have one that was HUGE. Our cows are primarily holstein. This calf was so big, he looked like he was a couple of months old. He seems to have some developmental problems as well, none physical except his size. This was this cow's second calf, the first was average size, but not the same bull. The bull has thrown some beautiful calves, and none as big as this one. I was actually looking online to see if cows can have gestational diabetes, like women can get during pregnancy, when I found this site. So, I guess that is kind of my question... Do cows get gestational diabetes? :?: That certainly would explain this big guy, we've named him Hoss in hopes that he makes it.

 

[Nesikep]

I'm was wondering about that myself, and haven't really gotten any answers... maybe it hasn't been studied... anyone working on a masters degree?

 

[Wisteria Farms]

Well I think we found our reason... and yes it was the hay. We fed high quality hay and while the mommas looked great coming off winter, it gave us some "honkin big" calves. We turned the cows out on pasture and the later calving ones BW's have come DOWN being just on grass hay just as predicted Next year they won't get chocolate all winter long!!! Yikes...lessons learned.

 

[RD-Sam]

Weights are up on all of mine, and I'm glad of it. 65 to 70 pound was about normal for the last couple of years. Had one that was 97 pounds the other day and he hit the ground full of spunk, best looking calf I've had so far. I think the difference is better forage and good quality hay, along with a good quality mineral. Mine have a ton of milk too, should be some really good calves weaned this year.

 

[Wisteria Farms]

Well, I feel the same as you... I like the bigger calves as long as mom can have them easily...as they do seem to get off to a great start but I'm glad I learned my lesson this year rather than NEXT as I'll have a lot more heifers bred next year...

 

[Stocker Steve]

Well I think we found our reason... and yes it was the hay. We fed high quality hay and while the mommas looked great coming off winter, it gave us some "honkin big" calves.

What is high quality?

 

[Wisteria Farms]

Well, by "high quality" I meant it had a high percentage of Alfalfa...and, all they could eat (the feeders were kept full 24/7)
We SHOULD have been feeding just decent straight grass hay and saved the Alfalfa/mix for AFTER calving OR fed the Alfalfa early on (last fall)
The reason I say I think we found our reason is because we had calves in Feb/March but then NONE until last week (and we've started calving again). With this, I looked at a possible problem with the bull...and found that we had really high temps that probably affected his fertility explaining the lull in calves. We turned the cows out on pasture the second week of April. So, my cows were on pasture for the past month and the calf born last week had a lower BW. I'm interested to see if the next few also have a lower BW due to moms being on grass and I'm guessing they will but its just a hunch... will wait to prove it (and probably STILL be left scratching my head!!)

 

[rockridgecattle]

Feeding the good stuff in the second tri, once the calves have been weaned is a waste of good food. This is when their nutrition needs are at their lowest. Feed the poor quality with a bale or two of the alfalfa to keep condition up. Give alfalfa if a winter storm or cold weather roll in to keep the condition
Last tri is when the needs are the greatest. Here is where we have to carefully balance nutritional needs with good condition and not over condition. It can be tough, but it can be done. The cows here need the food value to mantain condition during the coldest part of the winter, get that calf good and strong (not too big) make good quality colostrum and have some reserves for maintaining condition once lactation begins, so that they can keep condition for breed back
Good nutrition in the last tri will give you good strong healthy calves which will complete the passive transfer of colosturm and provide good wean weights in the fall.

Such a balancing act!

We were in the same position as you this year. The calves were definitely bigger because of the hay we fed, but they were also stronger and healthier, which was good cause of the wild spring storms they had to endure.

 

[Wisteria Farms]

Ditto.... Rockridge... while our calves have always been healthy, these just seem "ready to rumble" (haha).

 

[Stocker Steve]

I fed rained on mature alfalfa, about 85 RFV, to cows that had calves on them till late February. This seems to have increased the variation in calf size. I think some just milked more than others, and I would have to split the herd, or calve later yet, to be more uniform.

 

[rockridgecattle]

Stocker brings up another point in regards to milk production. Feeding slightly heavier than normal in the last tri lead to some pretty big bags on the cows. Never seen anything like it. Some cows we thought they were getting mastitis. But no, just alot of milk for their babies. It seemed like one quarter would sustain the young calf a whole lot longer.

The one draw back to this was the teats were bigger as well. Meant some extra milking this year to get them small enough for the calves, and double checking to make sure that calf got it's first and second suck in a timely manner.

That said, the death rate in the heard of 72 was 2. One was a post scour vaccination calf slip and the other we put down due to a bad heart (vet checked).
On the down side, our vet bill was a bit higher...one calf bed (uterine prolaspe) pushed out, one calf too big to turn. As well, once the snow started to melt, and due to all the wet ground from overland flooding since last spring, and no drying out of the calving area killing all the bacteria and viruses, a heavy load of navel ill. It hit 2/3's of the calf crop, no matter what we did to prevent it. On the plus no scours, even with the wet rainy, snowy spring.

I wish they would make these scour vaccines better so the shots can be given in fall rather than so close to calving.

On a final note, we are into the last few weeks before the bull turn out with calving done a couple of weeks ago. This is a first for us to have all calves done before turn out and before spring work up. Haven't had time to check the cows, but hubby feeds every other day. I asked him how their condition was holding out, especially with the spring storms and the overland flooding. He says they are going into the breeding season in good condition.

 

[Stocker Steve]

. As well, once the snow started to melt, and due to all the wet ground from overland flooding since last spring, and no drying out of the calving area killing all the bacteria and viruses, a heavy load of navel ill. It hit 2/3's of the calf crop, no matter what we did to prevent it.

How do you treat navel ill?

 

[rockridgecattle]

nuflor and flunazine and if it is really bad, we break the navel scab and squeeze out the puss and then iodine again

We, on the advice of our vet, started giving each newborn LA200 at birth to help prevent infection. For some it did and others it did not

 

[djinwa]

Interesting thread. In my amateur experiment station, I had the heifer I've mentioned elsewehere calve at 15 months. I knew for a few months it was coming, so I was feeding her well to make sure she would grow. Lush grass including from the lawn, and alfalfa hay (all I have) and less than a quart of grain with mineral in it.

So, she had a 73 pounder which is herd average where she came from and was a hard pull. I was hoping for a 50 pounder, as alot of people who have young heifers calving say they get smaller calves. But now I'm thinking in alot of those situations, the calf was a surprise and the heifer was not given special attention and feed.

Which is probably what I should have done - put her out in the weeds and forget about it.

 

[3waycross]

Interesting thread. In my amateur experiment station, I had the heifer I've mentioned elsewehere calve at 15 months. I knew for a few months it was coming, so I was feeding her well to make sure she would grow. Lush grass including from the lawn, and alfalfa hay (all I have) and less than a quart of grain with mineral in it.

So, she had a 73 pounder which is herd average where she came from and was a hard pull. I was hoping for a 50 pounder, as alot of people who have young heifers calving say they get smaller calves. But now I'm thinking in alot of those situations, the calf was a surprise and the heifer was not given special attention and feed.

Which is probably what I should have done - put her out in the weeds and forget about it.[/quote]

Woulda made a lot more sense to feed her harder after the calf was born than before!

 

[RD-Sam]

Interesting thread. In my amateur experiment station, I had the heifer I've mentioned elsewehere calve at 15 months. I knew for a few months it was coming, so I was feeding her well to make sure she would grow. Lush grass including from the lawn, and alfalfa hay (all I have) and less than a quart of grain with mineral in it.

So, she had a 73 pounder which is herd average where she came from and was a hard pull. I was hoping for a 50 pounder, as alot of people who have young heifers calving say they get smaller calves. But now I'm thinking in alot of those situations, the calf was a surprise and the heifer was not given special attention and feed.

Which is probably what I should have done - put her out in the weeds and forget about it.

What kind of cattle do you have that a 73 pound calf requires pulling? I consider a 50 pounder a dink and hope I never have another one, one was enough, it didn't grow worth a flip.

 

[LRTX1]

Interesting thread. In my amateur experiment station, I had the heifer I've mentioned elsewehere calve at 15 months. I knew for a few months it was coming, so I was feeding her well to make sure she would grow. Lush grass including from the lawn, and alfalfa hay (all I have) and less than a quart of grain with mineral in it.

So, she had a 73 pounder which is herd average where she came from and was a hard pull. I was hoping for a 50 pounder, as alot of people who have young heifers calving say they get smaller calves. But now I'm thinking in alot of those situations, the calf was a surprise and the heifer was not given special attention and feed.

Which is probably what I should have done - put her out in the weeds and forget about it.

What kind of cattle do you have that a 73 pound calf requires pulling? I consider a 50 pounder a dink and hope I never have another one, one was enough, it didn't grow worth a flip.

The 15 month old kind.

 

[3waycross]

Interesting thread. In my amateur experiment station, I had the heifer I've mentioned elsewehere calve at 15 months. I knew for a few months it was coming, so I was feeding her well to make sure she would grow. Lush grass including from the lawn, and alfalfa hay (all I have) and less than a quart of grain with mineral in it.

So, she had a 73 pounder which is herd average where she came from and was a hard pull. I was hoping for a 50 pounder, as alot of people who have young heifers calving say they get smaller calves. But now I'm thinking in alot of those situations, the calf was a surprise and the heifer was not given special attention and feed.

Which is probably what I should have done - put her out in the weeds and forget about it.

What kind of cattle do you have that a 73 pound calf requires pulling? I consider a 50 pounder a dink and hope I never have another one, one was enough, it didn't grow worth a flip.

You musta missed the part about her being 15 months old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1