Calf
When going out to tag calves, most cow-calf producers would prefer to find a new bull calf. However, it’s important to remember the extra options and opportunties heifer calves provide.
Spring calving brings the promise of working calves and branding season. Each operation is set up differently with varying resources to work calves. How do you minimize cattle stress during this event?
Calving is underway across the country, which means calf processing and branding (if applicable in your area) is just around the corner. Here’s some things to remember heading into the season.
After a typical birth the calf should breathe within 30 seconds of delivery, says Dr. Geof Smith, dairy technical services veterinarian for Zoetis. If it isn’t, you need to intervene.
Barry Whitworth, Oklahoma State University Extension veterinarian recommends cow-calf operators keep several doses of colostrum or colostrum replacer handy as calving season is underway in many parts of the country.
How can ranchers quickly identify compromised calves and help predict whether they can acquire optimal passive immunity? Elizabeth Homerosky, DVM, Veterinary Agri-Health Services, set out to find answers.
Plans for calving season should include how to identify and manage cold stress in newborns. Here’s what you need to know.
Raising an orphaned beef calf can be time consuming and may require additional expense. Additionally, calves may not be thriving at the time they are orphaned so managing health and nutrition can present challenges.
At approximately 90 to 120 days after calving, forage provides most of the calf’s nutrient requirements, which introduces a management decision: should I creep feed?
Caffeine may help stimulate at-risk calves that are the result of dystocia (difficult birth), hypothermia from being born in the cold, or being run down from a stressful event such as disease or transport.
While “high-risk” cattle are often given high levels of hay or forage to aid in the transition to a milled diet, a study at the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station researches ways to increase performance.
Whether calves will be retained and backgrounded or sold shortly after weaning, it is important to consider the impacts of weaning strategies on calf health and performance.
America’s dairy industry has been robust the last several decades. Now, larger average dairies are producing more beef-dairy crossbred calves that are much higher quality for producing beef.
Shrink is a concern because it reduces sales weight, but abnormal levels of shrink is often used as a health indicator for cattle arriving in receiving facilities at stocker operations, grow yards, and feedlots.
You should provide assistance immediately if you notice an abnormal presentation of the calf (AKA back feet, only one leg, etc.) or when there is no progress after 30 minutes for a cow or 60 minutes for a heifer.
The tick transmits Theileria orientalis to many animal species, including cattle, pigs, horses, sheep and goats. Death occurs in up to 5% of affected animals, according to Washington State University scientists.
Simply producing a black calf if not enough if the dairy industry wants to make permanent inroads into successful crossbreeding.
Along with some insightful vaccine history, Scott Nordstrom, DVM, shared specifics about the role of mucosal immunology in young calves, during the American Hereford Association’s educational forums in Kansas City.
Neonatal diarrhea is a significant economic loss to the cattle industry and continues to be the most common cause of mortality in calves.
The ongoing drought has impacted all segments of the cattle industry, and some of the hardest hit have been beef cows.
The U.S. calf-raising sector now has a program to help ensure optimal calf health and welfare via the Calf Care & Quality Assurance (CCQA) program.
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.
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.
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.
Resistance to disease is greatly dependent on antibodies or immunoglobulins. Passive immunity gives temporary protection by transfer of certain immune substances from resistant individuals.
It is important for cattle producers to take the time to observe newly weaned calves for the early stages of illness.
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.
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.
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.