It's CALVING SEASON!!!

It’s my favorite time of year…. CALVING SEASON!!

  That’s when all the cows have their baby calves.  It’s a busy time for us but it is so fun to see them all being born.  They grow super-fast and they are running around in no time at all.  The average calf is born weighing somewhere between 60-90 lbs.  That might be more than some of my #Agintheclassroom 5th graders weigh right now!! 

This calf was just born to this 

first-time mama #595!

  He weighed 65 lbs.  Just perfect

 to get them both off to a great start!

There are lots of things that influence their weight at birth like the sex of the calf, the nutrition of the cow during her pregnancy, the weather conditions, and most of all, the genetics of the calf.  Bull calves (the boys!) generally weigh more than the heifer calves (the girls) but not always!!  If the weather is very cold during the winter, the cow will send more nutrition to the calf during her pregnancy and that can cause bigger calves to be born.  Also, if a cow gets a lot of protein in her diet, this can cause bigger birth weights.  Birth weight is highly heritable (easily passed on to their babies) so if a cow herself had a very large birth weight, she is more likely to have a big baby!  We try to control this by using bulls that have known birth weights on the lower side of average.  We want the cow to have the calf without difficulty so the calf is born quickly and easily.  Just like humans, an easy birth on mom and baby makes life A LOT easier for everyone involved and gets the little one off to a great start!!  The older cows can have a little bigger calf than a young cow, especially when it is her first one.  We try to be very careful when choosing which bulls we breed the younger cows to.

Once the baby is born and we know it has gotten milk from its mama a few times, we 

weigh the calf and put a tag in its ear.  The tag has the date of birth, the sire (or dad) of the calf, and the cow’s number.  This way we can easily match up the cow and calf whenever we are checking on them.  We keep detailed records on all of the cows and calves in our herd.  It is important for ranchers to keep records on everything!

    

Here we are weighing one of the new calves born to cow #225.  Sometimes the mamas are a little protective and don’t like you messing with their new babies.  This cow doesn’t mind but she stays close by and keeps an eye on us to make sure he’s ok!  We use a platform with a small scale on it to weigh the calves.  Not all ranchers take individual weights but most do tag their calves at birth. 

I just took this photo this morning (2/14/17).  This calf (#827) is about 45 days old.  He was the first calf born on our ranch.  You can see how much he has grown compared to the new calves shown above.  It doesn’t take them long to get growing!!  Can you see his milk mustache?  He obviously had milk for breakfast.  I hope you did too!!

PJ's and Baby Calves go together!!

When you have to go out to check a heifer in the middle of the night, sometimes it's just easier to slip on your boots and run outside in your PJ's!

Luckily, all was quiet tonight so I was back to my warm bed in no time!!  During calving season, we check the cattle during the night to make sure nobody needs help delivering a calf.  Most of the time, they do just fine on their own but occasionally we need to help out a little bit.

Hurry up! Calving is about to start!!

Anyone else wait til the last minute to get calving records organized??  The first calf recently hit the ground and I decided it was time I'd better get organized before anymore arrived!  We had a very productive weekend bringing the cows home from cornstalks and getting some much needed office time in so records were ready to go!

These ladies are headed out to their new home
after being on cornstalks for much of the fall
and early winter!

Since we use artificial insemination (AI) in our cows, we know the exact day they were bred and can then calculate the estimated calving date.

Did you know a cows gestation length is 283 days?  That's pretty darn close to a human!  And like humans, they might give birth within a couple of weeks on either side of that due date!  That means you have to check them often even if you know when they are due!  But regardless of when they actually calve, I think we are ready!

Sunshine and Cows

I have yet to meet someone who doesn't love a beautiful fall day.  Mild temps, warm sun, fall colors, and appreciating one more day in the great outdoors can all add up to a perfect day.  With old man winter knocking on the door, I take these precious fall days very seriously.  Three things can make a fall day even better in my book... 1) a little one-on-one time with my girl, 2) an excuse to get the horses out, and of course 3) anything that involves cows!

Normally in the rush of everyday life we would just jump in the pickup and drive down to check these girls but today, we decided to ride the horses down.  It was about a 2 1/2 mile trip each way just to get to the pasture but we had a nice chat along the way.

One of the highlights was finding this little gem. 

We brought the rest of the fall calving cows home a week or so ago but this momma just couldn't wait on us.  And once she did deliver her healthy little calf, she proceeded to hide it from us.  Really well....  But now he's old enough to hang with the rest of the herd like a big boy.  One of these days we'll haul him and his momma home so they are with the rest of the pairs.  Until then, he's a one of a kind.

It was a nice 3 hour break in our day and a rare moment to slow down and enjoy the beauty that surrounds us!  I highly recommend it to everyone!

What's in a name? (or number??)

Tags made for all calves born today!!

Ever wonder why cows have ear tags or what all those numbers mean on the tags?  Again, every operation has a different system but here's a quick overview of ours...

We tag every calf within 24-48 hours of birth.  The calf gets a matching number to their mama so it's easy to know who they belong to and to get them paired up quickly if necessary.  We also like to include the date of birth on the tag as a reference, and the middle set of numbers represents the sire or "dad" of the calf. 

Getting a weight on this new baby calf

In our case, we use artificial insemination to breed the bulk of our cows to elite genetics.  This means you can purchase a few units of a particular bull without buying the actual bull that can cost upwards of $50,000 to as much as $200,000.  It's a great way to improve our genetics in a cost effective manner!  Tracking these sire groups is very important from a data collection standpoint so having it on the tag is a great reference.

All of the information is also hand recorded on spreadsheets as each calf is born and later entered in the computer.  We collect individual weights on each calf to also help track performance of the cow, sire, and individual calf.  We use different colors of tags to tell the difference between the different breed groups we have but it can also be used for sire groups, cow groups, ownership groups, pasture groups, or lots of other different options.  There are as many tagging systems as there are producers so the trick is finding one that works for your operation!!

At a glance I know this little dude belongs to cow #3009, he's out of Western Cut (WC) and he was born 2/17

Welcome to the World #046

Timing is everything.  And I just happen to be at the right place at the right time to catch this amazing video.  I had taken my lunch break to run home and check on the cows.  They are calving right now and that means we check them numerous times and day.  That even includes the middle of the night!  I had seen cow #046 during the morning check and she had given me some subtle signs that she might be nearing delivery of her new baby.  Sure enough, she was just getting started when I arrived home at noon.  This video shows just how fast things progress in a normal delivery.  This baby will get a tag that matches his momma so for now he is known as calf #046.  He has made quite an impression so far!


A couple of things to look for in the video...

1. That is the head and front feet you see at the beginning of the video.  Normal position delivery is with the front feet coming first and the head pointed down so the shoulders can slip out easier.
2. The photo bomb is compliments of #227.  Her name is Boo.  She was a former 4-H heifer so she's pretty tame and likes to come say hi.  She would NOT get out of the way.  She likes her picture taken...
3. At 40-42 seconds you will see a good video of the head and body and if you watch closely you will see the calf move during the delivery.
4. Note that the calf is completely delivered at 50 seconds into the video and the cow is up and licking her calf by 1:12.  Yes... that's all of 22 seconds of recovery before she's checking to see if her baby is ok. 
5. And yes... that's old 227 in there assisting.  I told you she likes to be in the picture!

Mother Nature is truly amazing.  I am so blessed to be able to witness these daily miracles.  I hope you are as amazed as I am.  It never gets old!