Summer Calving

[cswilson]

Cowman when we do our bigger calves we just rope one hind foot and the head then tail them over-it's easier than dragging them with doubles. If the vet is around we do them standing in the chute with a Newberry Knife and emasculators. About my roping -were just finishing calving and I found a heifer with the nose and feet out yesterday-told the kids to saddle up and ride out and phone me if she wasn't calved-well they did so I decided we'd ive it a tug. I dabbed a loop on her as she walked away-missed my slack and picked up her heels slick as can be. Can you believe my kids don't believe I did it on purpose-I can't fool anybody ny more lol. It was a very easy pull-she shoved it right on top of me.

[cswilson]

grassfarmer, not much wonder your bull customer's herd took four cycles to calve if the assist rate was between 35-65%. Good thing you sold the man an easy calving bull regardless of what breed it was. That rate of assists is just not acceptable regardless of the breed. I don't know how any producer can make money even in the good years with those stats, if even 1/3 of them were vet assists it sure must have been a high maintenance herd.

The assist rate here averaged over 32 years is less than 5%, and that includes the year we brought in 20 mixed heifers bred horned hereford and pulled nearly everyone of the calves !!

[pandiana]

Yes, it's been another good calving year. 100% calving (3 sets of twins offset by 1 calf died in utero, 1 at 7 days-failure to thrive, 1 diet at 6 weeks-cocci). Average BW 92lbs bulls, heifers 89lbs, cows 1410 lbs or 6.3% of dam Wt out of 110 purebred Gelbvieh cows. We assisted 1 heifer (not including the one with the dead calf in her) out of 19, no cows. It isn't always this easy but the last two years have been great.

Unfortunately, not finished yet as, although we pulled the bulls July 15th we had a visit from neighbors bulls, so a couple more to go. I guess this is ok as 'opens' would normally have been sold but, under the circumstances, a calf is better than $300.00 for a cull cow.

[rkaiser]

The kind of results you guys are posting boded well for your management practices and has little to do with the breeds of cattle you chose.

If I were in the market for Gelbvieh breeding stock, I know where I would be heading. Same with Luing, or some of those Galloways up in the Pure Country.

[bob-b]

just cut them standing with a splash of Kreosol or what ever that is. maybe 1 out of every 40 or 50 will not come to the bunks the next day but they soon come around.

[countryguy]

I am jealous everyone else's calving seasons are going so well. LOL Mine has quickly turning into the calving season from hell!!

After about the halfway mark my troubles started.So far I am minus 6 calves.

1)Calf coming tail first.Went in fishing and found out the calf was dead.Dug out a leg and couldn't do anymore so being in a hurry I just let the cow go into the bush and was going to shoot her the next day.To my amazement the next day she was back with the herd after she somehow spit out that calf on her own.Good thing I had no time to shoot her that day!!

2)Two calves found dead on pasture with no will to live.

3)Two calves lost to scours due to my stupid mistake of moving them onto a paddock where I was wintering and with all the rain here in swampy Manitoba the calves where drinking the water laying around and getting sick.

4)One calf lost apparently due to lightening from the wicked storm the other night.

Oh well,bulls go out in a month to create my PERFECT calving season next year!!! LOL

On a sidenote I thought some of you summer calvers may be interested in a unit I use at calving time.It's a little
calf scale/trailer with a headgate made by 7L livestock that I pull behind the quad.It works real slick for tagging and ringing and gives you something to hide behind from those little meaner mommas!

[cswilson]

Well I'm more lucky than skilled-my boy checked sat. A'M and said a second calver had started to calve-we were on our way to a rodeo so just left her be. My wife phoned down the road and said there was a leg bck. Her and a neighbor lady tried to bring her in but she fenced(frickin' EXT with a 500 yard flight zone). Anyway she got in a half section jungle and we couldn't find her. We were moving cows this morning and she's back with the herd-acting like she's got a calf stashed somewhere. After last winter guess I got one coming.

[cswilson]

After reading these last two posts I think I'll stick to calving in Feb/Mar. when the cows are handy to the chutes just in case.
As far as the little scale/squeeze goes they are a great item but I would hate to try and hide behind one with a limo mama on the prod. She could go around it or over it if she was mad enough !!!

Best way to tag calves around here is to kick the cow out of the pen and put the calf in my little 3x6 calf pen inside the barn. Mind you, kicking the cow out can sometimes pose a problem but grain works wonders as an incentive.

[smcgrath76]

Later calving works well at our place. We accidentally had a few heifers calve two weeks early to AI date this spring, so we solved the problem. AI'ed the first one yesterday. Bulls go out with the cows this weekend.

We also bought some fall calving pairs last year for the right price. (these are now our grass cattle). They must have come bred, because we also have 9 of 15 with calves and looking like a couple more this week. They should now be spring/summer calving cows with the rest of our herd.
As far as working calves and tagging. We still castrate with a knife at branding, and since the elder generation doesn't like tagging, we tag as they come through the calf cradle. We match up to the cows over the summer, but we always know what order the calves came up the chute the first time (LOL).

[cswilson]

We assist about 1 out of every 1,000 births heifers included so don't think I'll go back to the February misery-just in case. In hindsight if I'd of checked an hour later she'd of probably calved and we'd never of known there was a problem.