Cow/calf guys where it's been cold

rrlund · Mar 30, 2014

Any of you guys up here where it's been so miserable cold all winter,I have a question if you're calving yet.
Do your calves seem to be larger than normal?
After last springs disaster,I didn't breed to start until late April. I had a guy tell me the other day though,that the calves might be larger than normal and that I might have some calving problems because it was so cold. He said that it's been his experience after bitter cold winters anyway. He said that the cows eat more to keep warm,so with the calves laying in there right "next to the furnace",they tend to be bigger.

bison · Mar 30, 2014

You said "Seem" to be larger. Unless accurate birthweight records are kept and compared with the records from other years included the weather records there is no way to prove it.
As you know In a hard cold winter cows tend to eat more but that extra nutrition is used to stay warm and does not go to the growing calf.
If the cows are grossly overfed in the last 6 weeks of gestation then yes it can result in a bigger calf than normal.

I had a neighbor with a hand full of cows,His cows were lard asses and as a result every calf needed to be pulled.
I suggested he leave the oats in the bin cause for these cows it does more harm than good but he wouldn't listen.

oj · Mar 30, 2014

I'm not sure on this one Randy... Sure, when it's cold cows do eat more, lots more sometimes, but i think most of the feed goes into making heat to keep them warm... I've never noticed that cold weather leads to bigger calves... most of the calves growth is in the last few weeks of pregnancy, and having a big calf inside the cow tends to reduce the amount of food she can eat, i think quality of feed probably has more impact that amount... i know when the weather turns really bad i tend to give the cows a bit of a treat, maybe some second cut alfalfa on top of the regular feed...

The biggest thing i have found over the years to help calving is for the cows to have exercise. I've started calving in May , so the cows are on pasture (still getting baled feed) and we've had very few problems since the cows haven't been confined prior to calving...

RayP(MI) · Mar 30, 2014

We"ve lost a couple newborn goats due to being born in this extreme cold.

LonM · Mar 30, 2014

I won't start for another month, but here in western MN I have a few neighbors that have said the calves are a little larger than usual this spring. There are so many variables it is hard to say if that correlation between cold winters and larger calves is actually true or just anecdotal...

rrlund · Mar 30, 2014

I'd never heard such a thing in my life. Just wondered of it was a "new wives tale" or if anybody knew of such a thing.

Moline_guy · Mar 30, 2014

Ours have been on the light side, but our cows have to walk a long lane to and from water to feed, so they get there share of exercise. We just started a week or so ago, everything has had to come up to the barn when born for a day, just been too cold to leave them out as newborns. They get checked every 3 to 4 hours, more if its raining,snowing,blowing, or just plain arse cold.

john in la · Mar 30, 2014

I learned several things when I was a kid from my grandfather that were only general observations and never had accurate research and records kept.

Funny part is his observations cost a lot less and were sometimes more accurate than a ag college doing research and long drawn out studies.

4xMF · Mar 30, 2014

I have never heard about that with cattle but around here a lot of sheep are kept in the barns during the winter and it is said that they should be sheared about 6 weeks before lambing even though it is in the middle of the winter. I think it is supposed to stimulate the metabolism so as to make stronger lambs.

JerryMT · Mar 30, 2014

We shoot for late March and April by turning the bull out in the first week of June. We started calving in early March and we are ~ 40% calved out. I'm seeing the normal variations I always see so far. The only difference I have noticed is that we are ahead of where we would normally be. This time last year we were at~ 10% calved out.

MN Scott · Mar 30, 2014

Just started this week. I'd say size has been about normal. But I have been having trouble with weak calves. Vet told me its a common problem this year. Hard winter and the cows body gives priority to her body and not the calf. My cows are well fed and in good body condition too. Looks to be a challenging calving season.

M Nut · Mar 30, 2014

Yes, here in MN we have noticed that this year. 26 of 40 calves have been born, and he have had to pull about 10 of the 26. That is with angus bulls, so calves should be smaller. Bought another bull for some heifers last weekend, and the guy I bought the bull from said he and his neighbors have also noted the larger size of the calves this year.

notjustair · Mar 30, 2014

It has been a little odd. There were far more big ones than usual. The bull was a low birth weight, but there were more large than small. One of them I didn't even realize it had been born two hours earlier as it was big enough that it looked like the two week old ones. When I started counting heads I realized it and I had just been out there. Also had a dead one this week. It had been fine in the morning, but was laid out dead in afternoon. No injuries, very good mama, penned in the corral, no real answers. It was about three weeks old. I can't remember the last time I lost one that wasn't a newborn or predator issue.

It has just been an odd one.

formenwhogrow · Mar 31, 2014

I've never heard that in my life. I would have to agree with oj and others that is matters more what the cows are fed in the last few weeks of the third trimester than anything. That's when calf growth and development occurs. Also, I can attest that the single best thing we ever did to alleviate calving problems was to change the calving time to late April /early May when the pasture is growing and the weather is nicer. It's just too much trouble and too risky to calve when the snow/mud/cold are occurring. No other creature in nature births it's offspring in March weather, so why should we?

Anonymous-0 · Mar 31, 2014

I have heard that many, many times. Don't really think it is true though. We are about 2/3's done with calving and haven't noticed any difference is sizes of calves. Have had big and small. Just a normal year. Also heard before we started calving that we would have lots of calving problems because of all the ice we had earlier. The theory was that the cows were slipping on the ice a lot and they were going to have backwards calves and things like that. Luckily it hasn't happened......yet. Had one that was backwards and standing up in inside the cow. One on the heifers that had a front leg back.

Cow/calf guys where it's been cold

rrlund

Well-known Member

bison

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oj

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RayP(MI)

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LonM

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rrlund

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Moline_guy

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john in la

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4xMF

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JerryMT

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MN Scott

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M Nut

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notjustair

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formenwhogrow

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Anonymous-0

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