Menu
Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
New profile posts
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Forums
Cattle Boards
Beginners Board
Worst weaning ever.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Help Support CattleToday:
Message
<blockquote data-quote="ChrisB" data-source="post: 647983" data-attributes="member: 122"><p>I switched to fall calving 4 years ago and thought I had everything figured out. I fed corn silage to the cows and always had good hay available all winter. The calves had a good winter shelter and my fall calves seemed as big or even bigger at weaning than when I calved in March. (Even when I take into account I wean older calves now.) The past few winters were pretty mild and I was feeling pretty good about myself.</p><p></p><p>This winter was very cold and it is very easy to pick out the calves that were born in September and had some size on them before winter compared to the calves born in October and even a few in November. I have a nice new calf shed with good bedding that the calves really seemed to like laying in, the hay I put up last summer was some of the best I ever put up. And I put out another bunk so the calves could eat some silage in addition to the cows getting pretty much all they would clean up. I have a lot of really nice calves that will wean between 600-700+ pounds and also a lot that look like they will be less than 400. The only thing I can really think of is how consistently cold it was this year and it just took more energy just to survive and the younger calves were hurt because of it.</p><p></p><p>We'll see how they respond to the warmer weather and spring grass in another month or so. Maybe they will start catching up a bit, otherwise I will have to figure out some kind of solution. Do you think the cold winter could be the main cause of your smaller calves?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ChrisB, post: 647983, member: 122"] I switched to fall calving 4 years ago and thought I had everything figured out. I fed corn silage to the cows and always had good hay available all winter. The calves had a good winter shelter and my fall calves seemed as big or even bigger at weaning than when I calved in March. (Even when I take into account I wean older calves now.) The past few winters were pretty mild and I was feeling pretty good about myself. This winter was very cold and it is very easy to pick out the calves that were born in September and had some size on them before winter compared to the calves born in October and even a few in November. I have a nice new calf shed with good bedding that the calves really seemed to like laying in, the hay I put up last summer was some of the best I ever put up. And I put out another bunk so the calves could eat some silage in addition to the cows getting pretty much all they would clean up. I have a lot of really nice calves that will wean between 600-700+ pounds and also a lot that look like they will be less than 400. The only thing I can really think of is how consistently cold it was this year and it just took more energy just to survive and the younger calves were hurt because of it. We'll see how they respond to the warmer weather and spring grass in another month or so. Maybe they will start catching up a bit, otherwise I will have to figure out some kind of solution. Do you think the cold winter could be the main cause of your smaller calves? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Cattle Boards
Beginners Board
Worst weaning ever.
Top