BYC Café

[sourland]

Nothing better than a nice buzz cut. Goes easy on the wallet too.

Easy maintenance too. I figure that God had a plan for my head - I just helped.

 

[Mtn Margie]

Morning! I too am hoping Shad is okay...
Meg, that is cold and I hope we do not get as bad. Right now, they have lowered the high to 1F and the low to -7F on Sat., all changed from yesterday's changes. It is too early for them to talk wind chill, but I bet it will be more than a little! Right at freezing and sunny outside, warming up to another beautiful day and I see on the weather page that the plains are freezing fog and 15F. DS$ has a competition tonight so I guess I will be partaking in the fantastic weather down there.
Stay warm and safe, Cafe! Thanks for the HOT coffee!

 

[LaFleche]

I too am hoping Shad is okay...

That goes for all of us. I was just checking some of the other threads he was engaged in for any hint...

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Good morning, cafe. Thanks for the coffee, Tonya. It's always nice when your done with a haircut.

Safe travels, Margie! Freezing fog does not sound fun

My husband put his top 6 picks in the barn last night and, so far, two have calved. Today is supposed to be the worst of it with -11°f for the high and -19°f for the low. Not with the wind chill, of course. It's supposed to be +33° on Tuesday

Have a wonderful day, all.

 

[LaFleche]

My husband put his top 6 picks in the barn last night and, so far, two have calved. Today is supposed to be the worst of it with -11°f for the high and -19°f for the low. Not with the wind chill, of course

How do you prevent the wet calves from getting frost bitten? The other day you said that one of them might lose its ear tips?

With regard to the extreme cold weather this time of year, would it not be better to have them calve in some warmer months like April?
I suppose you have them artificially inseminated?

 

[Meg-in-MT]

How do you prevent the wet calves from getting frost bitten? The other day you said that one of them might lose its ear tips?

With regard to the extreme cold weather this time of year, would it not be better to have them calve in some warmer months like April?
I suppose you have them artificially inseminated?

That is the main reason they come in the barn. Even at -17° this morning it was still 10-12 above inside. If you can get them dried off before frostbite sets in, than they are in the clear. Above 10° with no wind, and a good mom that licks her calf off well, we generally don't need to intervene.

My husband gets up every hour'ish to go outside and check them, but if you check at 1:00am and a cow pushes out a calf quickly, then you can miss it. It was born at -8° and up sucking when he found it - meaning it could've been out for 20 minutes or so. At that temp it doesn't take much when they're wet. You win some you lose some. Frozen ears don't hurt anything but the bottom line, but if you get frozen feet/lungs it can cause much bigger problems.

People calve all over the board around here, although mostly February to April. Some in the summer and fall. Calving in spring comes with it's own set of problems. With wet ground you've got to worry about scours/crypto, foot rot etc. In Montana, our last frost date is considered to be June 1st, so you aren't even out of the woods on frostbite. We also get heavy and wet spring snows.

The biggest reason we start calving earlier than most is because my husband owns an excavation company and work starts back up (usually) in March. As much as he wants to be done done by the end of February, he can't bring himself to cull late calvers. He loves his girls Anyway, I think our last calf last year was born in May!

We only AI if we're after something specific. It's not near as good of odds as it seems it should be and can get fairly expensive. Our first AI attempt gave us a 23% success rate. This one was 80%. The highlanders are AI'd because I like them and my husband humors me. Our oldest boy wanted brockle face calves, so the Angus were AI'd to herefords and will be bred back to angus. We do keep bulls for breeding, as well.

Historically, January has been our best winter month. February and March are another story.

 

[LaFleche]

That is the main reason they come in the barn. Even at -17° this morning it was still 10-12 above inside. If you can get them dried off before frostbite sets in, than they are in the clear. Above 10° with no wind, and a good mom that licks her calf off well, we generally don't need to intervene.

My husband gets up every hour'ish to go outside and check them, but if you check at 1:00am and a cow pushes out a calf quickly, then you can miss it. It was born at -8° and up sucking when he found it - meaning it could've been out for 20 minutes or so. At that temp it doesn't take much when they're wet. You win some you lose some. Frozen ears don't hurt anything but the bottom line, but if you get frozen feet/lungs it can cause much bigger problems.

People calve all over the board around here, although mostly February to April. Some in the summer and fall. Calving in spring comes with it's own set of problems. With wet ground you've got to worry about scours/crypto, foot rot etc. In Montana, our last frost date is considered to be June 1st, so you aren't even out of the woods on frostbite. We also get heavy and wet spring snows.

The biggest reason we start calving earlier than most is because my husband owns an excavation company and work starts back up (usually) in March. As much as he wants to be done done by the end of February, he can't bring himself to cull late calvers. He loves his girls Anyway, I think our last calf last year was born in May!

We only AI if we're after something specific. It's not near as good of odds as it seems it should be and can get fairly expensive. Our first AI attempt gave us a 23% success rate. This one was 80%. The highlanders are AI'd because I like them and my husband humors me. Our oldest boy wanted brockle face calves, so the Angus were AI'd to herefords and will be bred back to angus. We do keep bulls for breeding, as well.

Historically, January has been our best winter month. February and March are another story.

Thank you, Meg, for explaining to me in such detail and giving me some advanced training and understanding on cattle farming in Montana's special weather conditions.


A friend of ours is cattle farmer too, but breeding Highlanders is still somewhat different.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Morning Cafe Both my Dad then Wayne my step dad where cattle men .. Wayne did all the breeding for this or that... Getting hair trim and pedicure need to get a move on it wanted my coffee bad... No @Shadrach this morning either huh

 

[ronott1]

Morning Cafe Both my Dad then Wayne my step dad where cattle men .. Wayne did all the breeding for this or that... Getting hair trim and pedicure need to get a move on it wanted my coffee bad... No @Shadrach this morning either huh

Is is time to send out a search party for Shad?

 

[sourland]

Is is time to send out a search party for Shad?

I'm concerned.