Trying to prepare for winter

[MurraysMutts]

My heifer let go last night-missed the blessed event within the span of two one hour checks. Little tyke didn't want to get out of its warm nest this morning, but mama woke her (?) up quite well.

Crazy isn't it??
I checked heifers every couple hours last year and still missed 2 outta 3!

Only heifer I got now is Seven. Shes due early summer. That'll be easy to check compared to this crummy weather!

 

[BFE]

I would guess so. Probable came over with the Coureur de Bois to North America. Out of curiosity, was that part of your / our history taught your school?

They were touched on lightly in my school days 30+ years ago.

 

[Hpacres440p]

Crazy isn't it??
I checked heifers every couple hours last year and still missed 2 outta 3!

Only heifer I got now is Seven. Shes due early summer. That'll be easy to check compared to this crummy weather!

And #3 of the "spring" calves showed up right before I got home. Her mama wasn't as kind- made her be born in the open edit-she is a he!

 

[Ky hills]

Our prayers were answered here, didn't near as bad as they were predicting. The temperatures held above freezing longer and turned to snow around the time predicted to do so, leaving a shorter timeframe of ice.
Still had to knock ice off the gate latches and so forth but ground wasn't too slick. I was figuring on waking up to solid ice everywhere like an unwanted skating ring.
Maybe spring will be close after Fats killed a groundhog back in the summer.

 

[Ferd]

Whoever mentioned wearing a toboggan first I thought was confused. Sorry. I have only heard it mean a sled.
Why do so many of you calve in the winter?

 

[MurraysMutts]

Whoever mentioned wearing a toboggan first I thought was confused. Sorry. I have only heard it mean a sled.
Why do so many of you calve in the winter?

I only have a couple. That WILL be resolved this year. My home group is all spread out from accumulated cows. The other place is all set up for fall calving now. I couldn't keep the bull away at BOTH places. Would've cost me too much!!

Why anyone would WILLINGLY calve in February around here, is beyond me!

 

[Ky hills]

It's pretty common to calve in February -March here. I've always found that calves born early in the year, just do better than later born calves and it's usually not as hot yet when time to breed back. It does have some drawbacks like this weather system.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

I get cold just looking at some of these pictures.
Toboggan hat - what one wears while riding a toboggan.

 

[Ouachita]

Whoever mentioned wearing a toboggan first I thought was confused. Sorry. I have only heard it mean a sled.
Why do so many of you calve in the winter?

I never intended to calve during the winter, but most folks here do plan for early spring.

I sold out in 2014, and bought back in Christmas 2019. I used the time between to improve infrastructure. The cattle we ended up with needed some attention.

After meds and vax, first thing we did was sync, based on economics (when they can best pay their way). That was calving early spring.

Don't hate me. I'm operating a bovine rescue operation here.

 

[Hpacres440p]

It's pretty common to calve in February -March here. I've always found that calves born early in the year, just do better than later born calves and it's usually not as hot yet when time to breed back. It does have some drawbacks like this weather system.

Here the buzzards aren't as thick at this time of year, also.

 

[Ky hills]

Here the buzzards aren't as thick at this time of year, also.

Unfortunately buzzards are here year round. They gave me fits a couple years ago, lost a calf to them in late January, and they almost got another one a couple weeks later but found that situation soon enough.
At least the flies aren't around this time a year.

 

[CowboyRam]

I didn't know until a few years ago that a toboggan could also mean a sled, when a yankee that worked for me told me. I was talking about wearing my toboggan and he says "you're going to wear a sled?" I didn't have a clue what he was talking about. We never had weather appropriate to own a sled other than one you pulled around behind the 4 wheeler when it snowed which sometimes was a car hood.

I didn't know until this thread that a toboggan was anything other than a sled.

 

[greybeard]

The temperatures held above freezing longer and turned to snow around the time predicted to do so, leaving a shorter timeframe of ice.

Pretty much what happened here. As the cold air system overall was moving East, the moisture was streaming Northeast. The last of the moisture was just tailing off to the NE when the freezing air got here from central Tx. About 20- 30 minutes of light freezing rain and it was done except the cold air and wind. The dogs water pan froze and that's about it.

 

[Dave]

Almost all the ranchers here start calving about February 15. This time of the year there is over 1,500 cows between here and the post office (5 miles). I saw a new calf in L's pasture today so it is about to start getting serious.

 

[Nesikep]

I calf out a few cows in Feb, main herd in March.. Honestly I've had as much or more miserable weather in March, there's mud, rain, etc and straw is hard to come by here, and no amount of straw will suck up the rivers of water, at least the bedding stays pretty clean when it's cold.. teats are clean, etc.
The sun clears the mountain to our west starting early march, that really makes a big difference for the little ones, if we have any sun.
Here's Wednesdays baby "Klaus".. he looks pretty comfy



and the December baby Zima, she's going to be soooo happy for a playmate.. Yesterday I was giving Grandma attention, and she was just beating my legs up, running around me, through my legs if possible.. the jealousy is strong with that one!

 

[Silver]

Mostly only the registered breeders start real early here. Many small time commercial guys like us start early march, BTO's like my neighbour to the south that calve thousands start later in April.

 

[Ouachita]

We are lucky here, I guess. Not as much ice as was forecast.

I'm watching cows because we can't figure out what happened nine months ago.

As a kid, I hated wearing a toboggan, but Mom made me. It was my fingers and toes that would freeze.

Now that I'm telling grandkids the same thing momma told me, I find that my fingers and toes do quite well. It's my cheeks (face) and ears that freeze. I'm happy to wear a full face toboggan now.

A much larger issue is going pee out in the cold.

My wife and I are out checking cows. I mentioned the toboggan I'm wearing and she said…..
"Well, darlin, when you were young you had black hair that absorbs heat. Now you're old, with white hair, you goofy boy!"……….

 

[CowboyRam]

There is a guy down the road from me that calves in January, because he wants his cows bred before they go out on the desert. He runs his cows in common with someone else, and does not want his cows bred by their bulls.

 

[Nesikep]

There is a guy down the road from me that calves in January, because he wants his cows bred before they go out on the desert. He runs his cows in common with someone else, and does not want his cows bred by their bulls.

a lot of people here have range that opens up June 1st, you want the calves to be a decent size so they can keep up with momma, reduce predator losses, and have at least the first cycle of breeding done before the herd gets spread out.. Neighbor across the river from me is in full swing right now

 

[Ouachita]

There is a guy down the road from me that calves in January, because he wants his cows bred before they go out on the desert. He runs his cows in common with someone else, and does not want his cows bred by their bulls.

I keep my favorite cow close, for a similar reason. I'm just partial to sharing