Cows are beginning to calve and some newborns are certain to be cold stressed. Getting those calves back to normal body temperatures as soon as possible will save some calves and increase the vigor of others.
Very low night time winter temperatures can have an adverse effect on vaccines that are stored in refrigerators that are located in unheated enclosures such as tack rooms in barns.
Despite our best efforts at bull selection and heifer development, cows or heifers occasionally need assistance at calving time. Here are recommendations on when to provide calving assistance for cows and heifers.
As the calving season approaches, an increased understanding of the parturition process is helpful. The more we understand about the physiology of the process, the more likely we are to make sound decisions.
Most of the causes that delay the return to cycling activity are centered around nutrition. However, one of the lesser-known causes of a delay to cycling activity is a prolonged, difficult process of calving.
The most likely candidates for “inadequate” passive immunity are calves born to first calf two-year-old heifers. Calves with inadequate passive immunity remain at higher risk to illness prior to weaning.
To expect large, heavy-milking cows to be in moderate body condition at calving and maintain condition through breeding, they must receive more feed than smaller lighter-milking cows.
