Tips for a Smooth Calving Season

Tips for a Smooth Calving Season

Farmer Tyler knows calving like the back of his hand. He currently runs a small beef cow herd in Northern California. Let’s tap into the hard-earned wisdom he’s gained over the years. 

Question: What should someone do to prepare for calving?

You should have everything on hand when they hit the ground so you can do what you need to do. Ask yourself:

• Is your chute put together?
• Do you know where your calving chains are?
• Do you know where your come-along is?
• Are my ear tags ready? (for herds large enough to need tagging)
• Do I have a plan if things go wrong?

It’s nice to have the right tools, and know where they are, so you don’t have to improvise (like using baling twine to pull a calf if necessary).

Question: What would you consider the “right tools” to have for calving?

The first, and most important thing, is a way to restrain the cows so that the animal is safe and the operator is safe, especially if you are doing it by yourself; people on the homestead level can overlook this. It's dangerous if you have a calf that needs to be pulled or a calf that needs nursing assistance and you can’t restrain the cow. Even cattle that are initially treated as pets change a lot when they have a calf; they turn back into animals even if they are puppy dogs to begin with. Working out on a farm or ranch, it could be hours before someone starts to wonder where you are. The cost is often a big hurdle for people not wanting to buy a chute, head gate, or an alleyway. However, tying a halter to post is sometimes not enough when dealing with a new mama cow (a fence post to a cow, is like a toothpick to you.)

Another important tool you  need is some way to pull a calf if needed. Most people use a dedicated calf puller, block and tackle, or a come-along and calving chains. Pulling calves is tough to advise for people who haven’t done it before or don’t have a livestock background, they think they need to help more than they really need to. It's kind of human nature to think that nothing will happen without our help; we like to think we are very essential to our animals' well-being. 

Question: How often do you check on your cows?

When we are getting close to calving, around 2 weeks before, I will go and check once a day. After we have the first calf, I will go out around twice a day until we are done or getting down to the last 2 or 3 calves. I’ve noticed that some calves come early; twins seem to always come in the first week or 2 (I’ve never had a late set of twins.) I check first thing in the morning and then again when I have a couple hours of daylight left.

Question: What do you look for when you check on your cows?

I am always looking at udder condition and development; “making bag” is one of the first things that gives it away that a cow is getting close. I will also look at their “exit route”; it will start to loosen up a little bit. When you are about 24 hours away, things start to look different (It takes a little time to start to know what you are looking for).

Some cows hide all those signs, you check her in the morning and she has a calf in the afternoon and you never even knew she was getting close. I look for any cows that are especially weary of me or not staying with the herd. When the whole herd is not paying attention to me or my truck, except for 1 cow who is staring me down with ears perked up…that tells me she is starting to get close. She is starting to get that instinctual desire to watch out for predators or any sort of threat that may hurt her or the calf.

Question: When do you feel like you need to intervene if calving is not progressing?

It’s almost different in every situation, but I try to be as hands off as possible. Usually they don’t need your help. It depends on the age group: if it is an older cow, or a first calf heifer, you are going to be looking at those 2 differently. I usually won’t help until it is really obvious there is a problem. With heifers, if you see them go an hour without visual progress you should probably go and help. Note what time it is, and let it go an hour and then come back and check on them. If I see a heifer start labor, and an hour later I check on her and she is lying down and pushing I will probably let her keep working on it. But if I come back and see her standing up, sniffing other calves, messing around, then I probably will get her in to pull it. A lot of times with heifers, they know what they're doing but they wait too long and you can lose the calf. Sometimes you pull a calf and you go “oh yeah, there’s no way that cow would have got that calf out on her own.” Sometimes you pull the calf and it just about falls out; they just needed to lay down and push, that was the problem. New people want to intervene really quickly, but moving them around unnecessarily can cause a problem. If things are going good, just stay away from them. If you walk out there, they are going to stand up and run away from you, and forget where their calf is. I watch them with binoculars so they don’t know I’m looking at them.

Question: How do you manage calving stress for you and the animals? 

For your own wellbeing, having a plan of what you would do in different situations is helpful, but also knowing that every situation might call for something tailored to it. At least give yourself a general idea of what to do if a cow is in trouble; a roadmap for what you are going to do if things go bad. You just have to kind of accept that it is stressful, if it was easy everyone would do it. The stress is what makes it more rewarding at the end, in a weird way. Letting nature kind of work itself out, it is less stressful for you and your animals. Being a good steward over your cows doesn’t mean you have to involve yourself in every process, every step. Letting the cow and nature perform is best. If you coddle your animals, you are selecting for animals that need to be coddled. We are going to help them if they absolutely need it, but over the years you select and you end up with a herd that is pretty self-sufficient. For larger herds, being overly involved is not very realistic. To not stress out your animals, I try to be as hands off as possible.

The way that you posture yourself when you are around them is important, especially a new mother. You don’t want a dominant appearance. Humans and livestock have a predator and prey relationship (a lot of people don’t like to hear that), but there are some things you can do to mitigate that. Try your best to not make direct eye contact or square your shoulders up to them. Keep a shoulder to them and do not face them head on. You may notice that even when you are in a corral full of animals, if you are standing up straight, beating on your chest, they are all going to move away from you; they are not going to like it. If you slink around and not act that way, they pick up on that. We communicate with words, they communicate with body language. If you want to send a message to them, you have to keep that in mind. Talking to them doesn’t necessarily relax them, it is probably better to be quiet. Since that is how we, as humans, comfort each other, that’s how we think we are going to comfort them, but it’s probably not the way to do it.

Question: If someone is expecting their first calves on their homestead, farm, or ranch, what would your biggest piece of advice be?

• Sometimes calves die. Sometimes there is nothing you can do; sometimes they are born dead and there is nothing you could have done to change it. It is easy to look back and see what you could have done differently to avoid that, but you do have to be at peace with the fact that no one gets a 100% calf crop every year their entire life; things happen.

• Be as hands off as you can. Trust in your animals to do what they have been doing for millions of years without people helping them. It is tough because you don’t want to do nothing, but you don’t want to go in there and do something you shouldn’t.
• You learn things through experience. Your first year you will make a lot of mistakes…in your second year you will make less…in your third you will make even less. I learn something every year no matter how long I have been doing it.

Question: When do you jump in and help a calf during birth? 

I will act within the first 24 hours. I don’t go in right away unless it is really obvious, for example like selenium deficiency and buckled over front feet and it can’t get around, or a set of twins. I want to have confidence in a calf in the first 24 hours, and that means see it nurse. If I see it nurse in the first 24 hours that’s all I need to see. If I don’t see it, or I don’t see a quarter of the bag polished or shiny I know I need to get more involved. It is usually heifers that need extra help; if I go back in a few hours and I see the heifer on the other side of the field and the calf is by itself, those are the kinds of things that worry me. That first nursing is the big thing I am looking for, or if the calf is really lethargic, those are the things that are going to get me to do something. Put them in the chute, isolate them, get them to nurse. The sooner they get colostrum in them, the better their rumen develops.

Tips From a First Time Calving on the Homestead

For first-time homesteaders, welcoming the first calf can be an exciting and nerve-wracking experience. Everyone has to start from somewhere, so let’s learn from some friends of ours in Missouri about their first calving experience.

How we prepared:

• Due to the time of year, we built a stall in the barn that was big enough for the cow and calf. This gave them a place to rest, eat, stay warm, and nurse. It was easier for the calf to nurse when mom was eating at a trough rather than grazing and walking. Since our cow was a heifer, we also think this helped her stay with her calf and avoid some of the first calving problems heifers can experience.
• We knew her artificial insemination date, so we had a 2 week window where we were on calf watch.
• We had a thermometer on hand to watch for fever. You don’t always see if and when they pass the placenta and we wanted to make sure nothing got left behind to cause infection. 
• Know the average size of your breed’s calves so you can know how often they need pulling during birth. We knew our Jersey calf would be a smaller breed, and would not likely need pulling.
• We had bottle equipment ready in case the calf didn’t nurse, thankfully we did not need it.

Things we learned:

• Adjust your fencing for smaller animals before the calf comes. Our calf was able to easily get under the hot wire and mama was stressed that she couldn’t follow.
• For smaller farms and homesteads, it can be difficult to find a livestock vet to do individual animal exams. However, most large animal vets can come and do an overall farm check and that will give you the green light for future access to prescriptions. So when there is a problem, you can get your animals a prescription, and you can do it without having to bring the animal in or schedule an individual animal exam. 
• You will likely see strings coming from the birthing canal after birth…just leave them, they will dry up on their own.
• The udder filling up was the biggest sign the calf was coming.

Support Healthy Dams and Calves with REDMOND

The unique sea and volcanic mineral deposit in Redmond, Utah has been helping farms since the 1950s. We know that calving can be a stressful time and are proud to offer products to help you get back to what you love about raising animals.

• For calves, Redmond First Month^® is an all natural immune stimulator to support your newborns during their most vulnerable health period. With pre-biotics, probiotics, and bentonite clay, First Month can help prevent and treat scours and reduce death losses.
• For lactating dams, Redmond Udder Mud naturally treats mastitis and is perfect for both conventional and organic farms. Reduce swelling and edema in sore udders and keep your milkers happy and productive.
• To help prevent hypocalcemia and other lactating disorders, Redmond also offers fortified minerals that your cows will love. We recommend a mix of 2-3 parts Selenium 90 and 1 part Conditioner to prevent deficiencies and boost rumen health.

Give us a call at to see how Redmond can help during your calving season!