What we do when the babies are born & the products we use to do it
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It is officially winter calving season on the Pagel operation. We have had our first baby plus our first set of twins. All are doing well. Last week we talked about how we prepared for the babies to be born. And now they are!
Cows have calves approximately once per year. We have three groups of cows. One group starts calving around late January, one group starts around May and the last group starts around September.
Calving is a stressful season. We feed the cows year round and only have one chance for getting a live calf from them. A lot of things can go wrong in the calving process. We do all we can by getting the cows prepared by having them in really great shape by feeding high quality feed during the third trimester and as they calf.
During the winter calving season, the cows are in barns out of the wind on cold days. They are let out on grass when the weather is nicer. The cows love their barn. Once they have babies, we monitor them to make sure they are doing well, then they are hauled to a pasture with babies their age. We want our calving barns to stay as clean as possible. The babies are much better off in a clean pasture than in the barn after they are a few days old.
I keep a bag of all the needed equipment. Or at least try to. This is what my bag has in it at all times. Unless somebody takes something and doesn’t return it, but I think I’ve finally got Matt scared enough to not touch the things in my bag. We have several of each of these things around the farm, I just like to have them in my bag so we can find at least one when we need it. These are affiliate links, so thank you SO much if you order through them. We really appreciate it! I wouldn’t recommend products if I don’t believe in them. These are exactly what we use and what we’ve used for years and years and years.
The cows all have their own cow ear tag with their number on it. The calves get a matching one.
All of the calves get an ear tag to match their momma’s number. This way we can keep track of who they are and when they are born. On the front of the tag we write the date the baby was born and the cow’s number large so we can read from a distance. On the back we write our brand. We like the blanks ones for this reason, but you can get pre-stamped tags.
I always have a tagger. That is what we use to get the tag in the calf’s ear.
Also, the special marker to write on these tags. DO NOT let your kids get a hold of these. They are WAY worse than sharpies.
I always have sleeves in case there are calving problems.
Along with those sleeves are straps or chain in case we need to assist the cow.
Also, I keep an old towel for anytime I need it. Then like the bottom of any bag or purse there is the compilation of unique treasures that we forget about: electric fence insulators, clips for fence, etc.
In the pickup is my list that has how many cows there are to calf and how many already have. I keep this bag stocked and ready at all times. You never know when there will be an emergency and you will need it. During peak season, we’re tagging at least one calf per day so it’s nice to be able to find what you need right away.
What questions do you have about what we do with the babies or the products we use to do it with?
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~Matt & Kelsey