Cold Weather Calving
Plan Ahead to Help Calves Survive Cold Temps
Pasture-born calves can arrive in unusually cold weather. Planning ahead can help set the stage for their survival, even when temperatures plummet and snow and rain pelt the herd.
Brock Nichols has seen it all, with a calving season that typically starts in mid-February. The Alton, Kan., cattleman said while he can move cows and heifers indoors to calve, he prefers to have them outside. And most years he is able to do just that.
"We unroll a bunch of wheat straw so the babies can get on the straw and get warm. We also put up man-made windbreaks or plant cedar trees," he said.
Whether you calve indoors or out, one way to give calves an edge when it comes to fighting off disease is for the cows to go into the winter in good condition. That means for many in the cattle business prep work for a successful winter calving season actually starts when cows are preg-checked. A little extra condition then can go a long way toward colostrum quality and improved calf vigor.
"We monitor our cows' body condition pretty often," said rancher Craig Bieber, Leola, S.D. "We want them calving at a 5.5 to 6.0 BCS. Our heifers we want on the high side of that. We want them to have some fat cover for protection from lower temperatures and wind."
P[L1] D[0x0] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
Bethany Funnell, veterinarian with the University of Minnesota's North Central Research and Outreach Center agrees with the importance of a good body condition score (BCS); she wants their heifers at the research center around a 6.0 to a 6.5.
"We feed our heifers very well the first two trimesters but back off the third trimester, because that's when most of the fetal growth is taking place," she said.
In cold weather, females internalize blood flow and nutrients, meaning more make their way to the uterus. Backing off feed in the last trimester with heifers keeps calf sizes down, helping avoid calving problems.
A surprise, sustained drop in temperatures, especially once the calendar says it's spring, can take producers by surprise. When those cold temps hit, a few steps can make all the difference between life and death.
"The two biggest things are to get him dry and get colostrum in him," said Funnell, referring to the newborn calf. She said the usual recommendation to get colostrum into calves within six hours isn't quick enough. "Colostrum has large amounts of butterfat that provide energy. A calf is born with very little body fat. It depletes rapidly."
Before giving colostrum, she recommends warming a chilled calf by putting it in a tub of warm water, then giving warm fluids. She said warm intravenous fluids are always helpful.
Calf warmers, like those used at the research center, can make a huge difference in survivability. These boxes are bedded with straw and outfitted with a milk-house heater at one end. The heater is covered by a screen so the calf can't get burned. Chilled newborn calves are usually too weak to suckle. A veterinarian can demonstrate how to safely feed colostrum through a tube.
Indoor calving facilities may sound ideal during cold months, but they can also be a spot for the buildup of any number of disease pathogens.
"If you get a nasty bug in your calving barn, you are in a world of hurt," said Funnell. "At the first of the season, the calves usually do okay; but as the pathogens build up, the calves, later on, can potentially get diseases."
Funnell speaks from experience. During her first calving season at the research center, workers were having to treat all calves with a coccidiostat and still lost six to eight a year. Before the next calving season, Funnell vaccinated the herd to provide clostridial immunity against scours.
"We hoped to take care of the viral and bacterial infections that make the calves more susceptible to coccidiosis," she explained.
The calving shed and surrounding lot were cleaned and left idle. Cows were pastured the next calving season and calved (weather permitting) outdoors where an area had been bedded underneath some trees for shelter. The bedding kept the animals cleaner so they didn't have manure and mud balls on their flanks, bellies and briskets. The calving shed is cleaned and rebedded after each group of calves.
During that next calving season, Funnell said they lost two calves and treated six. The next year, they didn't lose any.
(VM/CZ)
Copyright 2014 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.
