Working big mobs with calves

[Willstanton]

Have been castrating at birth last few years and this year decided to do them all at once at around 4-6 weeks age. They've just finished calving and am keen to get them done before grain harvest (or else leave them till January). Only trouble is its just me and my brother and im not sure we can get them all done in a day. Whats the best way to deal with a large mob. Don't want to mismother any or risk issues from yarding to long. Thinking about trying to split cows with a hot wire that the calves can get under in the paddock and spread the job over two days. Thanks for any input

P.s not sure what happened to original post I may have deleted it. I'm a beginer

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Have been castrating at birth last few years and this year decided to do them all at once at around 4-6 weeks age. They've just finished calving and am keen to get them done before grain harvest (or else leave them till January). Only trouble is its just me and my brother and im not sure we can get them all done in a day. Whats the best way to deal with a large mob. Don't want to mismother any or risk issues from yarding to long. Thinking about trying to split cows with a hot wire that the calves can get under in the paddock and spread the job over two days. Thanks for any input

P.s not sure what happened to original post I may have deleted it. I'm a beginer

No, we had some sort of glitch on the boards. I'm glad you came back to post this again.

I believe I suggested waiting until January and running them through the normal process and your chute system since you said the weather would be warm as you live on Kangaroo Island.

 

[Willstanton]

Ah ok no worries. So wait because they will work an re mother better when a bit older? Thanks

 

[CG1]

Have been castrating at birth last few years and this year decided to do them all at once at around 4-6 weeks age. They've just finished calving and am keen to get them done before grain harvest (or else leave them till January). Only trouble is its just me and my brother and im not sure we can get them all done in a day. Whats the best way to deal with a large mob. Don't want to mismother any or risk issues from yarding to long. Thinking about trying to split cows with a hot wire that the calves can get under in the paddock and spread the job over two days. Thanks for any input

P.s not sure what happened to original post I may have deleted it. I'm a beginer

I band my bull calves around 4-8 weeks. I don't have a very large herd, 10-30 at a time. I feed them all grain in the pen and make the exit the chute to the squeeze. I stand at the end, by myself, and stop the ones I need to deal with. It works well. If I miss any I just do the same song and dance the next day. I usually mark the ones I've done with a marker so I can see them easily. I never separate.

 

[Brute 23]

We separate and work cattle one day and match the calves up the next morning. I leave the calves in the pen over night and the cows in a near by trap. The next morning we go out early and turn the calves out one by one and match them up. I have held them a lot shorter and done it but over night works the best. They go right to them and get after it.

 

[Willstanton]

We separate and work cattle one day and match the calves up the next morning. I leave the calves in the pen over night and the cows in a near by trap. The next morning we go out early and turn the calves out one by one and match them up. I have held them a lot shorter and done it but over night works the best. They go right to them and get after it.

What age do you do this at? No miss mothering? Must be noisy overnight :lol: Cheers

 

[Brute 23]

We separate and work cattle one day and match the calves up the next morning. I leave the calves in the pen over night and the cows in a near by trap. The next morning we go out early and turn the calves out one by one and match them up. I have held them a lot shorter and done it but over night works the best. They go right to them and get after it.

What age do you do this at? No miss mothering? Must be noisy overnight :lol: Cheers

I've done it any where from a couple weeks old to 8 mo old. Ideally I like to do it when the calves avg about 3 months old. I thought I read on here that pulling them like that can make a cow go in heat. The last two years I tried to do it when I dropped the bull in to breed for the next season.

Never had any issues doing it... so far.

 

[bird dog]

I like to work my calves at about 2 to 3 months. By then the calves are big enough to run through easily and not get beat up when penned with the cows. They are also big enough where they don't turn around in the alley. I don't worry about matching them up until they are back in the pasture.

First work includes two shots, spray for flys if needed, tag, implant, band, weigh, worm.

The cows are eager to get out of the pens so we run them out first. After that the wife pushes the calves into the tub and keeps the records while I get them into the chute for the work. We can do about 20 per hour and seldom use a cattle prod.

I used to invite someone to help us and do all the animals at one time, but have found that its easier on us and the herd to break it down to the calves at one time, the cows a month or so later. With just us two, the herd seems calmer and easier to handle with less stress on everybody.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I'm a little confused. Why do you need to "mother" the calves up with dams? If you turn 50 calves loose with their dams, they will find their mom - with no help from you (or me)???
Yes, there has been lots of articles about pulling the calves for 24-48 hours to trigger the cow into heat. But, if you are needing to "entice" the cow to come into heat, the calves are probably around 30-45 days old (or older). My question, is how do you keep the calves healthy??? first, you are depriving them of their main source of nutrition (milk), then you turn them lose and they gorge themselves. Good recipe for illness. Just my 2 cents.
Best is to catch all, let cows out, work calves - as many as you can, marking them as you go. Catch and work the rest the following day or week - as long as you can ID the worked calves. But, I would NOT keep the calves away from their dams over-night.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

I'm a little confused. Why do you need to "mother" the calves up with dams? If you turn 50 calves loose with their dams, they will find their mom - with no help from you (or me)???

perhaps matching tags to mothers for record keeping purposes - at least that is what I would be wanting to do if/when separating them to work calves. we do it that way when I have a crew, makes working them faster (we rope and drag) then I spend an hour or two later that day watching them pair up and writing a bunch of notes.

 

[Brute 23]

I'm a little confused. Why do you need to "mother" the calves up with dams? If you turn 50 calves loose with their dams, they will find their mom - with no help from you (or me)???
Yes, there has been lots of articles about pulling the calves for 24-48 hours to trigger the cow into heat. But, if you are needing to "entice" the cow to come into heat, the calves are probably around 30-45 days old (or older). My question, is how do you keep the calves healthy??? first, you are depriving them of their main source of nutrition (milk), then you turn them lose and they gorge themselves. Good recipe for illness. Just my 2 cents.
Best is to catch all, let cows out, work calves - as many as you can, marking them as you go. Catch and work the rest the following day or week - as long as you can ID the worked calves. But, I would NOT keep the calves away from their dams over-night.

Yes, it is done for record keeping. When calves are born I usually just write the moms number down, a description like sbb (solid black bull) or rmfh (red mot face heifer), the month and year, and try to snap a pic. Works well when the calves have marking but not with a bunch of solid colors.

When all the cows have calved, which usually coincides with spring working and putting bulls in, we run the cows thru, work them, split the calves off, and turn the cows out. At that point we tag all the calves.

When I say we match them up... we dont physically do it. We cut them out out the chute and just and just follow them to their momma on the Mule. At that point we add the calves' numbers to the info that was gathered when the calf was born.

If we start in the am then you can do it right before dark some times. If we work them in the evening then we just leave them over night. Your actually looking at 12 or 14hrs or so. That's enough time so they really go for each other, its quick, and there is no doubt. If your trying to match up calves in the pasture you go at daylight and dusk any ways because that is when they are usually milking.

This is very common around here. Like I said... never had any issues in the years and years of doing it that way. May be different up north or with other breeds... Idk. :tiphat:

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Makes sense now. I have never had to try to ID a calf after birth, because everything is done at birth (other than tattoos), so was not on "my radar".
Separating for 12-14 hours shouldn't cause a health issue. But, the program to trigger a cow to come into heat, is keeping them separated for 48 hours - http://animalscience.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2012/04/beef-calf-removal.pdf
I have a hard time weighing the benefit of this program vs the potential nightmare of calves over-eating - both potential grain while separated and glut milk when back together.
Edit: several of you are aware of the newsletter I put out for my breed association 5 times a year. One of the benefits of being the editor - I put what I "want" or "believe to be beneficial" in it. I have NEVER put an article supporting short term separation in it. LOL

 

[Brute 23]

I wouldnt hesitate to separate a 3 or 4 month old calf for 24hrs. Thats a big calf already. Its not like its 3 weeks old.