Calving info

Bob Ford, the herdsman at the U of S dairy barn taught me to do it that way about a hundred years ago now. Old school thinking I guess - it makes sense that it would be harder to breathe. With lambs that wouldn't breathe I used to hold them by the hind legs and whirl them around over my head a few times but that's hard to do with a calf.  Maybe that was a bad idea too. 

I've done a few different things from holding them upright and work their front legs sideways in and out, give them a bit of a thump on the chest, and like the Capt blow into them, have brought a few back over the years so not about to quit doing it. As for the lifting them from the back legs being a bad thing, if them hanging head down like that causes the stomach to drain out...then why isn't that an issue when they come backwards ass first? With twins, the one is upside down much of its gestation and in my experience thats the one that often don't make it, why, because it drowned!!! same issue with any coming ass first, cord breaks before the head is clear of the cow or placenta...I think there gotta be more to this, perhaps its something that some folks have over done and so for this reason they are saying don't do it. I've never had my vet assist with one that was still alive so don't know what he would do, have to ask. I'm sure I've seen old Dr Pol on tv do it too.

I have seen where vets really frown on things they personally don't like, for example I often casterate my tomcats at about a year old with the rubber calf rings, yes you gotta be careful, very careful as there isn't a lot of room between his sack and his pecker, I always have a razor blade ready just in case the ring gotta come off. And you need someone to hold the cat securely too. I have gotten some awful looks from them when they hear I do this...I've asked point blank what is wrong with it...not one has ever been able to say anything other than well its better if we do it....well like I tell them, sorry I don't need a 500 dollar cat, thanks anyway...

Anyway here is part two of the series...

www.beefresearch.ca/blog/the-key-to-setting-up-a-healthy-calf-for-life-colostrum/

Nice info Ab. I was never a fan of hanging the calves high up. I always left the front feet on the ground grabbing the calf just on the back of the rib cage and ass end lifting them basically as high as the back legs would still touch the ground sort of in the recovery position as mentioned in the first series. Seems to work good. That is of course making sure the tongue is out and using the straw in the nose. Two things that I did not know and my dad and uncle didn't either is where to put the straw and colostrum. With the straw, they always rammed it down the nostril and so have I, going to have to try the new method. Microwaving the colostrum is the other thing, one of those things that sits in the back of your mind wondering. Now I have a good reason to change.
A couple of questions though for the guys have more experience than me. Hauling the calf on the gator/quad whatever, how do you keep the calf in and have the cow follow? I have always used the bucket if the calf was far enough that I didn't feel like pulling the calf sled driving the tractor in reverse with the bucket low as possible. NIce thing is the bucket tilts back far enough that the calf can't get out, bad thing is cold steel and watching the calf bang himself up slipping. Now with the calf sled which is my preference, the sides are not high enough. I want to have a snow fence of something quick and easy to keep the calf down and still have the scent for the cow. Anyone modified a sled?

Since all to often the calf magically "disappears" once its off the ground, I try to move them on their own feet when at all possible lol.
The older I get the more I need to do things differently, days of simply picking the calf up and carry it any distance and such are pretty much history, short distance still doable but, real issue now is simply getting it off the ground. The few times I do use the Gator, I will sometimes hog tie the front legs together with a twine or the neck rope I always carry for the calves, and then I reach over the front of the box and hold it with one hand and drive with the other. Main reason this is even tried is in cases where the calf is slow or weak, or I simply don't want to have to walk back for the machine. Reality is success rates are very low in the cow always following. Vast majority of them are moved on their own feet with a short rope on them so they can't bugger off in the wrong direction. If all was good, will leave them till at least a few hours or more old. Once they get to about 12, they can get a bit to rambunctious to catch after that lol.
In recent years I have changed things to where now I calf in small pastures and am always within 300 yards or less of the corrals. Healthy happy ones get ejected out in other directions, only problem children come home.
Have a couple of them plastic sleds, find them quite handy for right in and around corrals, especially with fresh newborns, rather than upset someone getting going, I will let her do her thing, then get her in or out of the mud right afterwards. Again sometimes that twine on the front feet helps with the more active or older ones.

I've wanted to build something for packing them for years but just never have. Think it was in FarmShow or such years ago I saw what resembled a craddle on wheels, like an inverted U, that you set the calf in, its legs hang down, opening in middle so navel don't get hurt, and is jut high enough so calfs feet barely clear the ground....this helps with that "disappearing" syndrome. Now in later years, I have trouble bending over to ring the bull calves and such, and am thinking of something a bit more technical, more along the lines of a calf shute on wheels that can be raised up vertically, and rotated to tip calf on their side.

As for colostrum, I use the powdered stuff, yea its pricey but convenient and quick. I used to at least milk out the mother and use her own, but hand milking not so easy anymore and while I have a Surge milker set up now because of the hand milking issue, more of a PITA for an occasional use than its worth.
Even with the powdered stuff, need to be careful you don't use too hot of water to mix it, again same as the nuke box, you can kill it. For mixing I use the electric egg beater in a large mixing bowl, found that works best to reduce lumps. Then pour into the feeder bottle thru a funnel.
If I have a calf who is slow or with a heifer who will be short of milk, I will give them a dose within the first hour or so. Some get a second one. Thing with doing it with the powdered stuff, yep expensive, but you don't need to get the cow in to do it either, can be done right in pasture. Time is money as well.

I use a lot of electrolytes, more as supplemental or preventative measures. Sometimes mix up a half batch, sometimes might use a bit less water with full dose, all depends on circumstances. I use those V-Lytes, think the 184 gram packages. Gotta love the licorice flavor lol. I know some folks add extra sugar in some cases, for larger calves that I know are not sucking, I have done it as well occasionally. They are cheap insurance IMO, dehydration is one of the worst things to knock a calf on its ass. Never used anything like that when I was a kid, we used to milk the cow and force feed the calf milk, I did the same in later years till I learned that is a good way to kill a sick calf as you feed the bacteria that way, so for the last 30 plus years, only ever tube in the electrolytes, never milk. If they want milk they will suck. If an older calf and not sucking, thems the ones I'll add that bit of extra sugar. Vet recommended honey actually, but thats a bit expensive. Really only ones I have lost where dehydration had been involved, are the ones where the fever nuked their brain before I got to them, that can happen quick, as within a few hours. Have had a few that way, one went on for almost nine months, but reality is, once the brain is damaged you're fighting a battle you nor the calf will ever win IMO.

We use a higher sided calf sled and put a piece of twine from a square bale on their legs when moving them. Can just pull on the twine a little if they try to get up. Otherwise just leave it loose. Better to keep the calf still we find. If the calf flips out of the sled then momma seems to get worked up then we have trouble. Most of our cows calves in a pen right beside our barn so it’s not very far we have to move them. We try to let the cow move the calf while still inside her......but that doesn’t always work out.

We still milk the cow to give to the calf if we have trouble but like to keep the powdered colostrum around just in case a cow doesn’t have much milk to get the calf going. We have also milked a cow that has lots of kept it for a few days in the fridge in case we need. We have lots of quiet halter broke cows that are pretty easy to milk without putting them in the squeeze. It’s one of the benefits of kids in 4-H.

All our calves get a shot of vitamin AD and selenium before they are let out of the barn. We are calving right now so there is no chasing them down out in the pasture.

Only had a problem getting ADE injectable two years ago. No problem last year. Have the supply for this year already.

We start calving mid January so we get most stuff we need in December. Maybe that’s why we got it. Our vet is pretty good at ordering stuff guys need. We used to be able to get it at the coop till the rules got changed.