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Getting Ready For March Madness.

Mar 04, 2015

By Warren Rusche

One of the key components for success in both fields is preparation. And for a rancher, success during calving is critical. Over 60% of calves that are born but die before weaning are either born dead or are lost within the first 24 hours after birth, according to USDA National Animal Health Monitoring System data, with calving difficulty being a significant cause of death.

Be Prepared

Being well prepared for the start of calving season can make a tremendous difference in successfully getting live calves on the ground. It’s a lot easier to get all the necessary supplies on hand and in place ahead of time rather than scrambling in the dark when the first heifer needs some help. Gestation tables and accurate breeding and turn-out dates are valuable in predicting when the first calves can be expected, but some cows don’t read the book. It’s not at all uncommon for genetic lines that have been selected for easier calving and lower birth weights to show a tendency for shorter gestation as well. In those cases, it would be prudent to be ready a week to ten days earlier than what the gestation table would suggest.

Establish a Plan

Another key component is making sure that everyone on the team knows the game plan and their role. Going over the plan for calving season with the entire team is a good idea to make sure that everyone is on the same page, even if the plan hasn’t changed and even if the team is only one person.

Factors such as when to provide assistance and knowing when to call your veterinarian can impact not only this year’s production, but future calf crops as well. Research from the Ft. Keogh research station in Miles City, MT shows that heifers that were assisted later during labor had a 19% reduced pregnancy rate compared to heifers that were helped within a half hour (Table 1). Even in cows, there was still a 9 percentage point improvement in pregnancy rates by assisting earlier. Given the value of bred females this year, being prepared to assist early will help increase the odds of getting cattle bred back in a timely manner and lower the losses from premature culling.

Know Your Procedures

Thinking about the actual procedures of delivering calves can also be useful, even if a producer has years of experience. Space doesn’t permit discussing every situation, but here are some general recommendations from Dr. Russ Daly, SDSU Extension

Veterinarian:

  • Take a short pause after the chest of the calf is delivered before pulling again. This mimics what happens in a normal delivery. When the calf takes its first breath it begins to transition away from oxygen from the umbilical cord to oxygen from the air.
  • A slight rotation (45 degrees) often allows the hips to pass more easily.
  • Use a piece of straw or vigorous rubbing to encourage the calf to breathe. One might think that picking up the calf with his head down would help get fluid out of his breathing passages, but actually that creates increased pressure on the lungs making it more difficult to breathe.
  • Call for assistance if one can’t determine how to correct the problem or if 30 minutes of assistance have gone by without significant progress.

Table 1. Effect of duration of labor on pregnancy rates

 

Duration of Labor

 

Short

Prolonged

Heifer Pregnancy Rates

88%

69%

Cow Pregnancy Rates

91%

82%


Source:SDSU