Dun,
Re:
Without knowing the birth date or pretty close you still don;t know if they're doing the job."
Exactly how do you define " doing the job"?
To a commercial producer " doing the job" is putting a live healthy calf on the ground without any adverse effects to momma.
And then there is the safety factor that should always come first and that pretty well eliminates handling a newborn to weigh it with momma standing right there watching you weigh her calf.
Sorry my friend but I learned that lesson many many many years ago and I wouldn't ask an employee to do anything I wouldn't do myself.
So weighing a newborn in the field is out of the question for me! And should be for everyone else if they are in their right mind.
Back in the late 70s I had 10 cows and was weighing the 8th newborn.
I picked him up and put him in the back of my pickup, where I had a bathroom scale to weigh him. I got in, picked him up again and stepped on the scale and before I could read the scale he let out a holler and momma joined us in the back of the pickup, over the tailgate. She landed on all fours and sent me over the cab only to land on the hood and then on the ground. While lying under my truck trying to catch my breath is when I decided the birth weight was just not that important.
How do those commercial producers that you know obtain the birth weight?
"Maybe better managment " could also cut down on the number of injuries and deaths that occur each year while handling cattle. Ya think?
SL