penning up calving cows

[plbcattle]

DO any of you pen up cows you know are close to calving. I have lost 3 calves over the last 3 years due to calving problems. It wasn't a problem with difficulty, it was the cow picked the absolute worst place to calve. one calved in a ditch during a huge rain storm and the calf drowned, another had a calf on a hillside and the mother stepped on the calf nursing it, breaking his neck or back. These just happened to be out of 2 of my best cows. My question is: it it worth penning up all the cows before they calve or just let mother nature run her course. Penning up every cow before she calves would be a time consuming thing but if I knew I could save a calf it would be worth it. I am a believer in that only the strong survive and maybe the calf wasn't meant to make it. Any comments

 

[MikeC]

I see the better managers bringing the heavy springers close to the handling facilities in case of breeches, and so forth.

Losing one calf is the profit on 10, as they say.

 

[KMacGinley]

I would definetely keep heifers close. Calving in the pasture is better, health wise, unless, as you stated an accident of some type is likely, or you are using some terminal type high birth weight sire. If you keep your pens as clean and dry as possible and kick them out as soon as possible I have had good luck with doing it that way.

My gut feeling lately though is that everything goes a lot better if mature cows are left on their own and not messed with too much. I also suspect that a lot more calves are born backwards than people think, but no one was there to run them into a barn and pull them.

A cow that is being watched seems to spend a lot more time messing around and looking at you than she does laying down and pushing.

 

[Beefy]

I would definetely keep heifers close. Calving in the pasture is better, health wise, unless, as you stated an accident of some type is likely, or you are using some terminal type high birth weight sire. If you keep your pens as clean and dry as possible and kick them out as soon as possible I have had good luck with doing it that way.

My gut feeling lately though is that everything goes a lot better if mature cows are left on their own and not messed with too much. I also suspect that a lot more calves are born backwards than people think, but no one was there to run them into a barn and pull them.

A cow that is being watched seems to spend a lot more time messing around and looking at you than she does laying down and pushing.

i tend to agree.
ideally i think it would be a good idea to have heifers separate and easy to catch. but we dont pen anybody up, it is my job to keep and eye on everyone. it sounds like the majority of people on this board do pen cows prior to calving though.

 

[plbcattle]

all my calves come small. I use LBW bulls. I have had only 1 birthing difficulty in hundreds of calves. If you penned up and tended to 125+ cows you would have your hands full. They get checked on twice a day during calving.

 

[Jogeephus]

My calving rate went up when I learned to "not hep 'em". Seriously, freak things happen - even in a pen. I am a firm believer in leaving them alone and watching closely but from afar.

 

[TheBullLady]

I don't pen my cows that are close, but I do pull them up into a 15 acre pasture near the house.. just easier to keep an eye on. I also think you run into trouble if you pen them.. primarily the environment for the calf. Always better if you can calve them out on pasture instead of a dirt lot.

 

[msscamp]

We pen the first calf heifers as they get close, and we keep the cows in a pasture close to the house. We can check the cows while going from the folks house to my house, and they are in full view from the folks place.

 

[Gate Opener]

We bring the ones about to calve up close and leave the gate going out into the pasture open so our dogs(which are good and won't bother the mom or baby) can keep coyotes and dogs away. Also so we can check on them.

Just recently ran off some dogs that where attacking a neighbors cow and newborn calf. :mad: People need to keep their dogs penned up or teach them not to leave their place.

 

[plbcattle]

A LEAD DIET USUALLY WILL KEEP THE DOGS AT HOME

 

[Limomike]

I say to leave the cows to calve wherever. I have lost very little due to the momma cow having her in a bad spot. Most cows will pick a good place to calve. If you do have a cow that has had problems in the past, it maybe a good idea to bring her up closer, in a 15 acre pen or so, just to keep an eye on her.

 

[Herefordcross]

I as well have seen problems by worrying the cows to death when they get close or are calving. I usually know when they're gonna calve so I'll keep close watch on them from the 4 wheeler, which they're used to and then If they need help then we give it to them. If I have one that I know will be problems or have a bad feeling about her then yes I bring her into a lot close to the head catch. I've had many that had trouble far away from the catch and then couldn't get them to lay still or go to the chute to pull a calf and if it's a good cow then it makes you sick when you lose them. But, that's the way this deal works some you just cannot save!

 

[warpaint]

I bring mine to the 10 acre lot right behind the house. Easier to keep an eye on them without stressing them too much.

 

[randiliana]

We bring them up near the house for the calving season. We calve in March/April, and need to have them where it is easy to get them in the barn if it gets cold. They get checked every 3-4 hours in the day and every 4 hours during the night. More often if we have one calving (especially if it is a heifer) or if it is really cold out. As they calve they get kicked out, first into a smaller pasture and then when the calves are about a week old out onto about 145 acres. And they stay there until mid April when we have pasture that we can put them on.

 

[bigbull338]

never have penned cows or heifers at calving.but if they are close to calving they get checked 2x daily.they all calve on pasture.dont have meny freak accadents.most of the time we catch them an can get them in the corral to tend to them.if we lose a calf after birth its an accadent.

 

[Frankie]

DO any of you pen up cows you know are close to calving. I have lost 3 calves over the last 3 years due to calving problems. It wasn't a problem with difficulty, it was the cow picked the absolute worst place to calve. one calved in a ditch during a huge rain storm and the calf drowned, another had a calf on a hillside and the mother stepped on the calf nursing it, breaking his neck or back. These just happened to be out of 2 of my best cows. My question is: it it worth penning up all the cows before they calve or just let mother nature run her course. Penning up every cow before she calves would be a time consuming thing but if I knew I could save a calf it would be worth it. I am a believer in that only the strong survive and maybe the calf wasn't meant to make it. Any comments

We don't put them in the corral, but we do bring them close to the house so we can watch them. We need to report birth weights and if they're not confined where we can see them, some cows will hide the calf for several days. We bring the heifers in about two weeks before their due date and the cows about a week.

 

[gabby]

I leave 'em be in whichever pasture they're in at the time, and I lose 1% to 3% of my calves per year. Not much you can do about it.

 

[Susie David]

We're a small operation and have the time and pen for calving, also the sorting and weaning pen. It's covered and well drained and shielded on two sides by a equipment shed and a barn.
If it is really cold (windy and below ten degrees) at calving we bring the gal into the OB stall in the barn.
Dmc

 

[boone]

I would be reluctant to bring a cow into a stall unless you are anal in your cleaning practices. You increase your chance for disease when you confine the cows and the germs in one area. Boone

 

[TNfamilyfarm]

do you/can you have an area cross fenced that your breed cows can go to when close to delivery?