Buttons 2023 Calving Thread

[ButtonHerder]

She must’ve had her really early, when i went out just after 8 (would’ve gone earlier, but decided to sleep in ) she was dry and running around.

 

[ButtonHerder]

 

[farmerjan]

Congrats on Sally with a nice up and going spunky calf. How does the udder look on the hereford...Baby(?) .... any increase in size?

 

[ButtonHerder]

Congrats on Sally with a nice up and going spunky calf. How does the udder look on the hereford...Baby(?) .... any increase in size?

Yup, her name is Baby. This is her today

I’ll get a picture of her under in a bit. It has gotten significantly fuller, but still isn’t full.

 

[ButtonHerder]

I went out to check on the cows and took pictures of basically everyone but Baby ‍

I think this cow will be in the next few days, she was acting really weird and I don’t know if that means anything.

And this is a older cow who I think will be soon too

Also this one and a few others who could be soonish.

 

[ButtonHerder]

 

[farmerjan]

Totally agree the one with the white on udder is close. Baby has alot of swelling for not having much more udder than that. But then some do... just hope it doesn't swell much more.
How many head do you all keep? Looks like quite a bit of hay , do you put up your own hay? How many bales on average? How long do you figure you have to feed hay ? We usually start feeding in late Nov or early Dec... according to how much rain and grass we have... We didn't move all the cows home from summer pastures until the first of the year, this year, as we had more grass at 2 places and left them there... plus we had made some of the one pasture into hay early, so just fed it out there. We run 125 +/- brood cows and DS buys some feeders to wean and put together into groups, with our own calves, that are weaned and vaccinated to sell so we can sell in bigger groups as they usually do better in groups of 10 or more... we try to sell 15-30 in a group of matched size and weights.
Is this the normal time of year you like to have the cows to calve? How long of a grazing season do you have?

 

[ButtonHerder]

Totally agree the one with the white on udder is close.

She actually just went into labour a little while ago, or whatever you call it when their water breaks. I’m keeping a close eye on her but she should be fine.

Baby has alot of swelling for not having much more udder than that. But then some do... just hope it doesn't swell much more.

By swelling do you mean of her rear? I don’t honestly know if she will get much more of an udder, her moms was very small, and was from a bad group of heifers that we bought at an online auction (lesson learned). Her mom wouldn’t touch her, and that’s why she was bottle fed.

How many head do you all keep?

We have about 52 cows and what will be first calf heifers, and 17 yearling heifers. So we should get 49-50 calves as one of my cows aborted a while ago, and 1 old cow isn’t pregnant (going to be culled), and 1 heifer we don’t think is bred. We are trying to increase our numbers.

Looks like quite a bit of hay , do you put up your own hay?

Some of it, what you see stacked is fescue straw of ours used for bedding and we put molasses in some and put in feeders, then we roll out a hay bale everyday. (the bale processor broke down). Most of the hay was bought, but we are mostly down to the stuff we made.

How many bales on average? How long do you figure you have to feed hay ?

The cows were fully on hay in November, and we’ll probably have them off it mid may-ish.

Is this the normal time of year you like to have the cows to calve?

We have been trying to bump it earlier the last few years, trying to get more beginning of April. In the past we were more starting in May.

How long of a grazing season do you have?

About end of may to October ish.

 

[ButtonHerder]

She actually just went into labour a little while ago, or whatever you call it when their water breaks. I’m keeping a close eye on her but she should be fine.

She’s had it, and it’s up and trying to suck already.

 

[farmerjan]

I was referring to the swelling of the vulva area. That is more than I normally see with ours, but ours usually have more udder development when they are 2-4 weeks from calving. I does help to know an "in and out date" for the bull with the heifers as I watch them alot closer too.
I am sorry Baby is from a group that didn't make much milk. The sad thing is that you may have the same problem with her. Let's hope she does better for you.

I really prefer to not buy heifers... open or bred. It has been too much of a gamble for us. I would rather buy an older bred cow and maybe only get a couple calves out of her... because she has "been there, done that" and an older cow is older , mostly because she has done her job.... Especially like to buy at dispersal sales because then you are less likely to wind up with "duds"....

It is hard to "back them up" like you are doing... and we have done it with alot of bought cows over the years to get them in a tighter calving group.... If they back up a month or so every year that is really saying that you have a good feeding program and they are cleaning up good and cycling within 30-45 days after calving. That is great that you are getting yours to do that. By the time that they are all in the 1 month range and the grass is coming on good, the cows can make more milk and they go to pasture and really grow....

Do you have much predator problems out on pastures? There are a couple of guys on another cattle forum I frequent, and they are in northern BC and another in another province, not sure which one... and they have trouble with bears and wolves with their cattle .... they run big herds, and calve out a couple hundred and want to have them all on the ground before the first of May so the calves have a little size when they put them out.
Our biggest problem here is coyotes with the young calves.... Not too much problems with the few black bears we have, except getting into the salt on occasion..... we do have to deal with dogs running them on occasion but we are not near as remote as you and most of the pastures we have are within 1/2 to 2 miles of a house in any direction so much more urbanized.

I was up to Hay Lakes in Alberta Canada nearly 20 years ago... for a funeral for a friend that I was "internet dating" I guess you could say... we had met and after several months, I was planning to go up to spend 2 weeks, go to Calgary Stampede, several other places... and he was killed in a freak work accident... so I went up to his funeral and met some of the friends he wanted to introduce me to.... it was really sad as we had gotten to be as good a friends as was possible long distance....talking the possibility of a future..... what amazed me was the openess of the area and seeing the train so far off in the distance... and that you could sit outside and read a newspaper at 10 or so at night because of the amount of light. He wanted to spend part of the year here in the states and part up there.... It was very pretty up there... I was there in May.