Calving in May June

[campbellc]

Yes, I have two friends who moved their calving from Feb-Mar to Apr May ...... both are very happy. Both are situated in areas prone to significant snow accumulations and cold periods - north of Edmonton. One states that his calves in November are only 50 to 80 pounds less than the earlier born calves plus he has more of them at less cost. He also states that his calving period tightened up signficantly in subsquent years producing a more uniform calf crop - few if any cows outside of 45 day calving period now. It should be stated that he normally backgrounded his calves through Nov, Dec and Jan so his marketing practices were unchanged and he had no significant disruption in annual cash flow. The other friend experienced a significant gap as he moved from marketing in Nov to Feb so he was disadvantaged somewhat, but his planning in the transition year was at fault here and he admits as much! Otherwise his statements are much the same. However he made further significant changes to his wintering regieme, less confinement, less bedding, more grazing throughout the months of Nov Dec and into Jan when possible as the cows nutritional requirements in his case changed significantly as he went from mostly Feb calving to May so his cows only required 6% to 8% protien in their diet during Nov Dec and Jan.
Both commented in the first year that they did not know that calving on grass was so uncomplicated and easy.

[grassfarmer]

I've been creeping mine forward too, from a March 1st start to April 15th but may gradually move later still. I would agree with the guys in the post above it's cheaper, simpler and a lot healthier. I know January calving herds where the calves lungs are damaged by
-35C weather and come April they start to get pneumonia and other troubles. Calving on grass can be trouble free with no scours or other confinement problems. I don't agree with Cowmans assumption that you automatically get bigger calves. These early born calves don't get the quality of rearing a later born one does - less milk, poorer quality milk, no grass to start them on - no wonder they all resort to creep feeding. I have a neighbour that calves huge cows in February and their calves are way ahead of mine in June. Come August when he runs out of grass the calves start to fail and by weaning time I guarantee my calves will be within 10-20lbs of his.
In this case what is the point? spending more to get production in winter to replace cheaper summer production - madness, but it seems a common trait among cowmen.

[WoolyBear]

Here is a different spin of the differences in weight for calves......

That January/Feb calf will be eatting A LOT MORE grass on pasture than the April/May calf. If we look that way, would we be able to graze more cow/calf pairs on the same acres, with the younger calves? If we guess 10% more.....(and a 100% calf crop) 50 x 650lbs, vrs 55 x 580lbs is a difference of only 12 lbs/cow (50) more for the Jan calvers.

[magpie]

It just seems to make more sense to calve when it’s warmer. Cowman does make a point in that it complicates the spring with planting and such. I think a calving pasture close to home would alleviate some of the worries. We talk of lowering the cost of production and this is what a speaker from ranching for profit suggested would be a starting point. For us producers in colder climates, time the nutrional requirement for mothers in calving time with higher grass nutrition or earlier part of growth,and it will bring on better cycling. A somewhat smaller calve at weaning might be what one should expect and maybe not according to some of those that responded. I think as grass farmer states, that cold air in those young lungs can’t be all that good, along with the extra calories being taken in just to stay warm hence energy wasted. The sun pvides the energy needed for mothering cows thru grass, they pass on this energy to calves thru milk. I would be providing that extra energy in winter for those mothers and calves where the sun and heat units would do it in summer. Change is always scary thou, fear of the unknown, but I as well might move towards a later date and give up that extra 40 or 50 lb providing my costs move down as well. Jury still out on this one on our place.No heat units here -24 now

[countryguy]

Magpie,I will respond to your question in this thread.

I am in Manitoba and calve my cows in June and wouldn't do it any other way.I don't know where to begin to tell you how great it is.

I guess I will start by saying calving during seeding time is a non issue.We spring seed a fair amount of acres during calving season,and calve on a pasture 5 miles from home.I have found that for the most part calving troubles are almost non existant when calving on grass and on the rare occasion when you do come across a problem it is nice and WARM when your working on that cow!!My cows get checked morning and evening and my only work with them is counting the new calves.

Summer calving also gives you many wintering options for the herd.Mine are kept out and fed on the fields all winter.

I think the most important thing of all with calving at this time is that the cows nutritional needs are matched to the forage growth.She is guaranteed to have the best quality feed possible exactly when she needs it,and she can be fed lower quality/cheaper feed in the winter.

I could go on forever with all the benefits I have found but will stop now.If there's anything else you are wondering just holler.

[magpie]

Woolybear that’s a interesting spin, shortfall seems like easy to make up when one considers a frozen ear or two or a shortened tail, vet supplies. Countryguy what about predators on calving at this time (bears, coyotes/ wolfs) do you calve on open fields without bush. When it comes time to tag,needle or ring do you have trouble finding them, those mothers really can hide them babies. We have been screening and breeding out problem udders for years and have it down pretty good now, I’m wondering if the cold weather has anything to do with the longevity of a udder, have you noticed anything different here?

[countryguy]

Magpie I have no predator troubles at all.The cows take care of themselves.One time I was out doing some fencing and heard a calf ball and then saw the whole herd run in that direction.I think a coyote tried to snag a calf and the cows chased it away.I also had to laugh this fall when I was watering the cows before the snow came.The cows were standing around and then all of a sudden took of running.I looked up and saw three deer in the field crossing and the cows went running and chased them out of their pasture!!I am pretty confident that they can take care of any predators that might wander in.

As for finding and processing calves,I calve in small paddoks so nothing is ever too far away.I have a 7L calf scale/headgate unit that I pull behind the quad so I just drive out and do them in the field.As long as you get them before about 3 days it isn't too bad.

I can't really answer your question on udders.All I can say is that I do not bed the herd in the winter and haven't noticed any problems as of yet.

[smcgrath76]

Interesting query. I know that for some people they can produce calves at a margin calving early. For some reason we had moved up to mid march and occasionally early march with our calving but have moved back over the last several years. We are out of grain completely at this point so can't specifically relate to the labour issues. We have found calving later is less work. We check heifers once or twice a day, but cows are only checked once a day or every other day for the most part.
The only added work is if we don't get out to tag calves within a very few days of birth. Then its' two lariats and a whole bunch of fun.
The long term plan is a little bit later yet, and earlier wweaning. As we have started retaining calves, weaning weights don't matter as much (they still matter). The long term plan is to calve later and wean earlier (3-4 months). This allows us to potentially graze 2nd trimester dry cows on leased stubble for a couple of months at around 30 cents per day, then move them onto better stockpiled forage later on. The goal being to feed cows 45 days a year or less and with some bale grazing tied in there, not to feed cows at all in the winter other than possibly some Energy (grain).
This year we are calving a bit earlier than our long term plan as our AI tech (me) had to be away on a work trip during our ideal breeding period.
When we looked at money tied up in facilities, labour, feed, etc. we just felt that it was too much risk on a per cow/ per calf basis to winter calve. We felt it is better to take the risk of increased cost on the other end feeding calves and working on value added to the product.
Did I also mention that we have found that the less work we do the more money we make. It's a strange world.

[Cattleman]

This is a good thread and certainly lots of things to consider as it does change your business quite a bit. Personally, I am not sure if I am totally sold on summer calving (maybe just old fashioned) because getting good weight calves to market prior to the calf run can have a bit of a price kick (and no more worries). For the guys who do calve later, and sell their calves, the price slide for the year really make a difference because if there is a fast drop in price per pound, even if your calves weigh 50 or 80 pounds less, it may only mean $30 or $50 less, but if you calve a lot later, you have to consider or be prepared to feed the calves to add value.

[cowman]

The important thing to remember is this: Whatever works for you is how you should do it!
That idea goes way beyond just financial considerations! For some people making money is really not much of a concern at all. People raise cattle for a whole lot of reasons?
Consider my neighbor: Retired from the construction business with more money than he could ever spend. Likes to play cowboy and hang out with the team ropers! Has the time and money to indulge in being a rancher. Doesn't mind paying for fancy cows, expensive land, hired help, and all the toys. Along the way he has become a pretty competent rancher...good cattle, lots of grass, a real show place! Does he make any money? I don't know but he sure is having fun doing it! Not Mickey Mouse...runs over 200 cows and expanding!

[cswilson]

Done it for years would never go back-my kids calve 200 plus cows while I'm gone custom a.i.ing-we selll all our production as finished beef on a quality grid so don't bother trying to 'guess the run'.

[Cedar]

One concern I would have with the summer calving would be that the cows would be out in the pasture cycling up a storm and the bulls can't go to work until...what?...about August. Anybody who summer calves have trouble keeping "the boys" where they're supposed to be until it's time?

[kato]

In our case, we've got good facilities that have evolved over a lot of years. None of them were expensive to build, because we did it ourselves, and shopped around. We've done things like building a handling facility out of mahogony boards from the floors of old boxcars. It's 30 years old and indestructable. We built our own sheds for a fraction of the 'custom built' ones. We converted an old dairy barn to a calving barn, and so on. We also converted old wooden granaries into self feeders for the steers that work like a charm. Your facilities don't have to be fancy commercially built in order to be functional.

Our take on it is that we have about half of our cows out on other people's pasture where they are charged on a by the pair rate. We want both halves of that pair to actually eat the grass! We also send them quite a ways away. We had 65 pairs in a pasture 50 miles away last summer, and you can't just check that one every day. They brought home some pretty big calves last fall too.

We can put those calves directly on feed, and have them finished and gone in the spring. Or sold as short keeps in February if the market dictates. Putting them back on grass the next summer is not an option. We'd rather use any grass we have for the cows. To move to a later calving, backgrounding on grass operation for us would be incredibly expensive, as we'd have to buy more land. We're short of land as it is.

It boils down to the best use of the land and resources you have is what will make the most money.