New calving season
- Thread starter lithuanian farmer
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That is a good looking calf for sure.
OP
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lithuanian farmer
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Going to use the same bull for the cow again for the next calf. Hoping for a heifer with a similar colour...
The cow is Charxdairy, plenty of milk and calves are growing very well. The new one should start filling up in no time. The sire has excellent growth and milk figures, so it will be very interesting to see his calves grow.
Two more cows are very close. One in calf with Char at 283days today and another incalf with BB at 275days. Should calve within a couple days.
The cow is Charxdairy, plenty of milk and calves are growing very well. The new one should start filling up in no time. The sire has excellent growth and milk figures, so it will be very interesting to see his calves grow.
Two more cows are very close. One in calf with Char at 283days today and another incalf with BB at 275days. Should calve within a couple days.
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lithuanian farmer
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The new calf has arrived today. Another Charx bull calf. 288days gestation. Going to take better pics and weigh him abit later, but he should be at least 110lbs too.
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lithuanian farmer
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Have weighed the "little" one. 123.9lbs.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
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That's a big un!
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lithuanian farmer
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One of the biggest we'd in a while. The cold weather seems to be increasing bw. Luckily no more Charx calves until March.Jeanne - Simme Valley said:
Jeanne - Simme Valley
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Cold weather definitely affects BW
OP
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lithuanian farmer
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Jeanne - Simme Valley said:
Yes. It's been quite cold for a month or so now.
Also the bull we used is still young and his calving figures has a low reliability. Have seen his calving easy% going up abit, so now he is abit harder calved than average. I wonder how people are using him on heifers...
Jeanne - Simme Valley
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That is a good example of why you don't want to totally trust EPD's on virgin bulls.
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lithuanian farmer
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Jeanne - Simme Valley said:
Yes, that's why have used him only on those cows, which have proven themselves with calving, or I believed that they should be able to handle bigger calves. After 100-110lbs calves from Limousine bulls, I don't expect any smaller from a Charolais.
Had to assist the last cow abit. She hasn't made any progress for around 30 min after I saw the feet of the calf. Decided that it'll be better for everyone to give her a hand. The size of the feet was a sign that it shouldn't be any smaller calf than the last one. Cow had 5 calves before, most around 110lbs, never had to help.
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lithuanian farmer
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As expected you need one cow to calve that others decided to do the same.
Have a heifer born today. Sired by BB, born at 282days, 116.8lbs. Calved easily.
It's getting very interesting what average bw will be for this season... At the moment with 4 weighed calves (out of 5) it's 114lbs.
Have a heifer born today. Sired by BB, born at 282days, 116.8lbs. Calved easily.
It's getting very interesting what average bw will be for this season... At the moment with 4 weighed calves (out of 5) it's 114lbs.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
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Do you have them calve outside, then bring them into the barn?
OP
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lithuanian farmer
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If we see the cow in labor we bring her inside the shed. If she calves unnoticed we bring her in with the calf. Will let out when the calf will be around two weeks old. The cows can go inside that shed and it's next to the feeding area, so it's just a couple minutes work to move one in.Jeanne - Simme Valley said:
Jeanne - Simme Valley
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I calve all inside in individual pens. They only go in at night when they "look" ready, then out during the daylight. When they calve, they get to stay in for 24-48 hours, depending on the weather & the need for pens for the next one to calve.
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lithuanian farmer
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We calve them in individual pens too. Later join a couple in a bigger pen. It's a bit pf an extra work to keep them separate for two weeks, but it's worth it. At least for us. Last year we kept all cows in until March when weather was warm and nice. I want first to make sure that calves are nursing well, are strong and are smart enough to choose a warm place to sleep instead of a cold ground. At the moment it's pretty cold and a strong wind makes it even colder. Saw the latest heifer shivering, even if she's in the shed. Have put a heavy bedding of hay for all. Her tips of ears were frozen abit too. The piedx heifer is fully ready to be let out, but probably will wait a couple more days until the weather gets warmer.Jeanne - Simme Valley said:
When calves will be out, they'll have a separate pen in the shed, where they'll be able to be away from moms and always have a nice warm place heavily bedded.
This year we've a pretty big problem. Wolves... No seen for decades, but now saw some tracks near our pastures. That's one of the reasons why will wait for calves to be abit bigger to be let out.
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lithuanian farmer
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No more calves yet... But one girl is on 294th day today... Ready to pop any time now. Incalf with piedmontese and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a bull.
Photos of elder calves. Two- coloured calf is two weeks old today, dark calf is abit over two weeks.
Photos of elder calves. Two- coloured calf is two weeks old today, dark calf is abit over two weeks.
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lithuanian farmer
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Well, the girl decided to calve pretty quickly! Has a bull calf, as expected. 118.8lbs.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
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2 week old calves look great. I had a big one yesterday, 128#, steer!
OP
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lithuanian farmer
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Hope everything went well for you! That's a big calf, for sure.Jeanne - Simme Valley said:
I really like the dark heifer so far. Would love to have more like her. Very friendly character and is looking really well.
Will have one more calf soon. Cow is due on the 7th of February (285days), AI'd with blonde bull, which has 112.4lbs bw, so don't think it'll be any smaller calf. It's really interesting how all calves except charolais, don't look that heavy despite what the scales showed. Going to search for a twin once will have a calf under 90lbs!
I believe that those people, who don't weigh their newborn calves are mistaken that their calves are that small. Both farmers we bought our last two bulls from said that they don't have big calves, but when I saw their calves they looked pretty decent size. Not to mention that most calves from the previous bull were pretty much around 100lbs, some going up to 110lbs.
