I get this newspaper for free at the grocery store. Northwestern Illinois - The Prairie News - Jeanne Harland - Calving season preparations underway

Calving season preparations underway

We sorted the first batch of heifers off this morning. Calving season is about to begin. They aren’t due to start for a week, but cows don’t adhere to gestation tables any better than humans do. Since we run a commercial herd and all our critters are crossbred, there is even more variation in due dates. It just makes life all that much more interesting for a couple months.

These are our first-calf heifers, so they are at a somewhat higher risk of complications than the older, more experienced cows. We arrange it so they begin calving a couple weeks before the rest of the herd. Because cows cycle every twenty-one days, most of the heifers should have calves before we get too busy with the older cows.

The silage will be gone in the next few days, and then AJ and Matt will haul all the cows home from the Other Place to calve here. In the olden days we let all the cows calve out in the field, both here at home and at the Other Place. While there are a few advantages to doing that, it is far more practical to keep the cows near the barns and, as much as possible, move them inside to have their calves.

Cattle are an independent species, despite having been domesticated for thousands of years, so they would prefer to be left alone to choose their own secluded spot to give birth. The vast majority of the time that works out fine, but when human intervention is required, usually at two in the morning, often in a snowstorm or torrential downpour, it is preferable to be ministering to a laboring cow in the relative comfort of a barn stall.

Most of what we do is just check on them every few hours. Once one begins the actual labor and birth we monitor them closely. Matt has a good eye for who needs to come in, and eventually we will have created three or perhaps four cohorts, grouped according to how close to calving we believe they are. It is far from foolproof, but it sure beats wandering through the timber in the middle of the night looking for an Angus cow who doesn’t want to be found.

Today’s sort was easy; Matt had noticed significant changes in two heifers, and more subtle signs in two more. 1813 and 1831 are annoyingly tame. They follow AJ and Matt with their heads in the buckets of corn and unfailingly stand in the way when they unwrap the bales of hay or cornstalks. They are impossible to drive because they are so tame. Matt sort of walked 1813 into the holding pen, then we sorted most of the unwanted heifers on out into the hay lot. We put 1832 into the holding pen and got the rest of the unwanted ones out.

We ran the four heifers across to the barn lot and into the east side of the east barn. They have a stalk bale and a bale of hay outside, a nice cement patio with easy access to water, and the freshly bedded east bay of the barn. It doesn’t get much better than that for a cow. Matt’s pick for the first calf of 2020 is 1831. She was uncharacteristically skittish while we were sorting them this morning, and she is still restless this evening, so she may be up to something.

Heifers don’t always know exactly what is going on when they have that first calf. They may walk around for a long time kicking at their belly because something doesn’t feel right. I’ve seen them lie down, have their calf, and get up thinking, “Wow, I feel a lot better now.” Then they are startled when they turn around and see the calf tossing its head and trying to get up. “What the heck? Where did that come from?”

I’ve also seen them have the calf, then immediately turn and bellar loudly right in its face. This does nothing to help the calf get dried off and on its feet, but it does get the calf’s attention. And sometimes a heifer will just ignore her calf. This can happen especially if we have to assist with the delivery. Usually, with some encouragement, they do accept the baby, but it can be frustrating for everyone for a few days.

Of course, once in a great while we will pen up a few pending heifers together in a barn only to have two of them calve almost simultaneously. They invariably lie down butt-to-butt so the calves come out inches from one another. That creates a whole new level of confusion for the heifers, the calves, and us. The calves just want to get up and go have lunch. The heifers may or may not be aware that they now have a baby, and we need to make sure each calf has a mom to look after it. Often in a case like this, both heifers claim one calf and the other is left out, so we have to help them sort things out. And let’s not even talk about a heifer having twins. So we watch and sort and check and help them when needed. It is exhausting. It is often frustrating, sometimes heartbreaking, but always rewarding. I’m looking forward to a pasture full of calves, frolicking in lush green grass. In the meantime, it’s calving season.