All About Calving

Understanding the Three Stages of Calving Parturition, or the birthing process, has three stages. Understanding the stages is critical in order to know when/if we need to provide assistance during calving season to increase the likelihood a live calf is born alive and off to a good start.

Spring Calving Strategies Webinar

Calving Checklist and Considerations It’s hard to imagine in this cold weather that spring calving will be here before you know it. Before the first calf hits the ground, here are some things to think about. If you’re calving in a pasture, does it have the necessary facilities to either assist with a birth or load the cow to take her to a chute? If it doesn’t, can you make a simple pen with portable panels that will allow you to load her? The Importance of Colostrum Being ready and prepared before the start of calving season can make life much easier for cow-calf producers and potentially save a calf. By the time calving season starts, you need everything on hand that might be necessary and all equipment and facilities in working order. Operators need several doses of colostrum or colostrum replacer on inventory before the start of spring-calving season.

Navel Infections As we prepare for spring calving, an important health concern in young calves is navel ill which can lead to joint ill. Navel ill occurs shortly after birth when bacteria from the environment or skin are able to enter the calf through the navel and cause an infection or abscess in the umbilical (navel) area. If the infection gets into the blood stream and spreads throughout the body, joints in the legs are likely to become infected and the problem becomes “joint ill”.

Calving Ease Cows -- Optimal or Extreme? The questions, “Will easy calves grow into cows that have more calving difficulty?” and “Will calves from easy cows have higher mortality?” prompted the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) research on calving ease cows. Dr. Gary Bennett, from USMARC, presented their findings at the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Symposium. Nearly 900 animals across four breeds (Angus, Charolais, Gelbvieh and Hereford) and three composites (MARC I, II and III) were studied.

Cattle-Fax Cow Calf Survey Oklahoma Cow-Calf Producery Survey New Year's Resolutions for Cow Calf Producers

Feed-Lot Magazine Published on1/18/22

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