May is beef month! Last week we talked about some interesting facts about cattle. Throughout the rest of the month we’ll be going through the cycle of pasture to plate.
Cows have calves approximately once per year. We have three groups of cows. One group starts calving around February, 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 calving season we check the cows at least twice a day, more when needed. The cows we are calving right now, they are in the pasture. I use a four wheeler to go through to look at them. The cows are very used to the four wheeler and stay very calm. I started using a backpack for my calving bag. I can put it on and have everything I need.
My bag always has tags. The cows all have their own ear tags with their number on it. The calves get a matching one. I always have a tagger. That is what we use to get the tag in the calf’s ear.
I always have sleeves in case there are calving problems. Along with those sleeves are straps in case we need to assist the cow. I keep binoculars so I can watch cows that are calving without disturbing them. 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.
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