Ensuring calf health from day one spells success later – in performance and quality. Zoetis veterinarian Mark Alley shares why it's important to have a prevention and treatment plan ready.
Providing assistance to cows or first calf heifers generally concentrates on the survival and health of the calf. However, calving difficulty resulting in prolonged labor can have adverse effects on the cow as well.
It is imperative that the newborn calf begins to breathe as soon as possible. To stimulate the initiation of the respiratory process, here are a few ideas that may help.
If you are targeting selling your calves during one of this fall's value-added or preconditioned sales, be mindful some of the required weaning dates are only days away.
If a small cow operation can market a sizeable number of calves together in one lot, it will realize a greater price per pound (on the average) than similar calves sold in singles or small lots.
The ongoing COVID-19 serves as a reminder to cattle ranchers about the importance of sound, common sense biosecurity measures that can aid in reducing the risk of a disease outbreak in the new 2020 calf crop.
Time is of the essence when a calving cow or heifer has a situation where the calf is coming backwards. If the umbilical cord is totally pinched by the pelvic rim, the calf can only survive about four minutes.
