Good &wacky calving tips: it’s all there

The Canadian Cattlemen magazine publishes a large special issue in January that deals with cows, calves and calving articles. They call it their Calving Special. It was first introduced back in 1985. Many of the articles deal with calving tips. There are also a few pages of tips readers send in.
The 2008 issue says some readers hold onto their issues and retrack and reread stories, columns or past pricing records. Some producers have decades of Cattlemen on bookshelves and in boxes around their operation.
Beef producers like the magazine for good reasons. If they calve their cows in March and April like many beef farmers do, they’ll need lots of luck –especially if the weather is nasty for an extended period. It’s great having an early calf crop but not when they’re born in a snowstorm or on cold nights.
Look through old issues and you’ll find some wacky or strange tips that readers submitted. Tips they say works for them. There’s one about shaking salt on calves to get reluctant first-calf heifers to bond, especially on the ears of the calves to get them licked off and dry sooner.
There are tips for homemade ear-muffs to keep calves ears from freezing or how an old pair of long johns can help warm up a thin-coated calf. A lot of tips centre on scours remedies and prevention. The magazine says some remedies are downright scary but producers swear by them. Many tips key on colostrums and the importance of this first milk drink.
I’ve seen beef farmers feeding their too- fat dry cows grain during the winter months. You’ll see that on television newscasts or in articles about beef farmers. Maybe it’s just for show! Dry cows that are in good shape don’t need grain. Give it to the calves!
A reader from Prince Edward Island has some simple tips for farmers. He says, “First of all, make sure your cows don’t get too fat before they calve. That saves a lot of problems at calving time. Give your cows a shot of Sel (selenium) about five weeks before calving. Consult your local vet about how much to give as there are different strengths. This will prevent white muscle disease in calves at birth. You can also give the calf a shot at birth.”
“Keep calves dry. A cold dry place is better for calves than warm, moist conditions. Keep the dry cows in reasonable condition. Do not feed them too much grain before they calve, but give them vitamins and minerals.”
An Ontario farmer writes: “Feed your cows late in the afternoon –only once per day. Ninety to 95 per cent will calve out in daylight. You get to sleep all night and run more cows.”
A woman from Portage la Prairie wrote: If a calf stops breathing, put a straw up the calf’s nose to tickle it. It makes the calf sneeze and starts it breathing again.”
Giving new-born beef calves their needles (vitamin and selenium) and tagging them can be a tricky and dangerous job. Cows don’t like you going near their calves. Some cows will attack you. There are farmers who made devices in their farm shop that they can separate cows from their calves and safely needle the calves.
This issue shows a home-made calving cage that a northwestern Ontario farmer built in his shop. The cage looks like four eight-foot gates made into a square. The headgate is an old-style dairy stanchion. The calf sling to hold the calf for weighing is made from an old leather blacksmith apron. The unit quick-attaches to the front-end loader. The farmer easily changes from bale fork to the calf cage. The farmer drives near the animal he plans to catch, sets the cage carefully over it and shuts the tractor off so all is quiet while he weighs, tags, needles and checks the new calf. Just what I need when my cows and heifers are calving this summer.
(Maynard van der Galien, of Renfrew County, has been writing an agricultural column for 19 years.)