LIMOUSIN TODAY December 2017 - January 2018 | Page 46
Management
Prepare Now for Next Spring’s Calving Season
By Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University
As a young boy growing up
in Central Nebraska, we had a
spring calving cow herd. The
“calving shed” that was available
to us was one side of a large
red barn. This barn was built in
the early part of the previous
century and had stalls on one
side that were meant to stall
draft horses. Because we used
the stalls only
during March
and April for the
“calving shed”,
the other ten
months of the
year they became
a storage facility.
Fencing materials,
5 gallon drums of
grease for farming
machinery, sacks
of grass seed,
and mineral
blocks were just
some of the
items that were stored in the
stalls. Invariably, the calving
season would begin before the
gestation table suggested that
it should. One of us would find
a two-year old that was in the
midst of labor, and the calving
shed was still full of supplies.
Someone once said “that
Success occurs when
Opportunity meets with
Preparation”. Planning and
preparing ahead for next
spring’s calving season can
44 | DECEMBER 2017 - JANUARY 2018
help increase the chances of
success. There are several key
preparation steps that would be
good to conduct in December
to insure success in February,
March, and April. Before calving
season starts do a walk-through
of pens, chutes, and calving
stalls. Make sure that all are
clean, dry, strong, safe, and
functioning correctly. Check
the gates and the squeeze
panels to make certain that
they are ready for use. Do you
have the extra barbed wire
and steel posts, as well as grass
seed and motor oil stored in
the calving shed? Now would
be a good time make certain
that these items are placed in
another facility or at least out
of the way. This is a lot easier
to do on a sunny afternoon
than on a cold dark night when
you need to have the calving
area ready in a short time.
If calf diarrhea has been a
significant issue in your herd
in the past, now is a good
time to visit with your large
animal veterinarian. Ask about
a scours vaccine given to the
cows before calving, and about
other management
strategies that
help reduce the
pathogen exposure
to baby calves
when they are
most vulnerable.
More information
about management
of cows and heifers
at calving time
can be found by
downloading
and reading
the Oklahoma
State University
Circular E-1006 Calving
Time Management for Beef
Cows and Heifers. I