calving vaccinations

The countdown to calving begins! We are about 5 weeks away from the start of calving. And, I have been busy preparing. I've put together our calving kit...Clorox wipes, paper towels, flashlight, calving record book, weight tape measure, iodine, syringes, needles, vaccinations, paper tags, marker, and glue. 

 

 

When our calves are born, they receive a series of shots...Vitamin B12, Bo-Se (Selenium and Vitamin E), Enforce 3 - Bovine Rhinotracheitis Parainfluenza Respiratory, CalfGuard - Bovine Rota Coronavirus, Clostridium with E Coli, and penicillin. Our health program for calving costs about $35 per calf. But, it gives our calves a great start to a healthy life!

Weaning 2014 Calves

We weaned our 2014 calves yesterday. The calves were hauled in from the pastures to the feed lot to be weighed and vaccinated.

antique scale used to weigh calves

 

 

We are very pleased with weaning weights this year. I calculated weaning weights for heifers and steers at each farm. Heifers and steers weighed 30-50 pounds heavier than last year. Quite impressive. There are several reasons for the increased weaning weights. We had a milder summer. Temperatures were fairly comfortable. Cattle were able to graze the pastures most of the summer. With adequate rain, pastures grew well. We also started feeding the cow herds hay and some gluten to help supplement the pastures. In June, I started feeding calves. I filled creep feeders with rolled corn, oats, and cotton seed hulls.    

 



a lovely heifer calf 

In the evening, I fed the calves a bucket of oats. They quickly walked up to the feed bunks to eat.


Tonight, I had a visitor...I found a cow in my backyard. A cow from the pasture where I live walked up to the feeder calf barn. In the morning, she will take a ride in the livestock trailer back to the pasture.

Preparing to Wean Calves

As of this afternoon, we are prepared to wean our 2014 calves. Much effort goes into the preparation of weaning our calves. The feeder calf barn and lot have been cleaned and sanitized for calves, and the barn has been bedded down with straw. We have the scale and records ready to weigh calves.

barn is ready for calves

So much work has been put into redoing the For-Most cattle chute we use for feeder calves. Many calves have been vaccinated in this chute. My dad welded a new floor. It looks great! In time, I hope to sandblast and repaint the chute.
 



for-most cattle chute

After speaking with our veterinarian, vaccinations were ordered. We vaccinate our calves according to our health program we have developed with Dr Baird. Calves will receive four shots...Bovi Shield Gold, 20/20 Vision 7, Vitamins ADE, and BP48.




shots administered according to our health program

 

Every year, we weigh calves at weaning. We sort and weigh the heifers, steers, and bull calves from each herd. In 2006, I created a spreadsheet to better track weaning weights of our calves. The spreadsheet lists average weights from the farms, and shots administered to the calves. Information we collect is extremely valuable! 

weaning records

We are weaning calves from the two cattle herds on Tuesday. I am extremely excited about these calves! There are many high quality heifers and steers this year. These calves have been so much fun to watch grow. It is a proud moment for a cattleman! 

We are continuously improving every year. We can proudly say that we have improved from the previous year. It is something we strive for as cattlemen. Each year we evaluate what we do and make changes as we see necessary.

2014 Knox County Fair

July 18 and 19, I was in Knoxville for beef assistant superintendent duties at the Knox County Fair. It was a great two days looking at calf butts. Ha! I have enjoyed working the cattle shows the past few years. And as always, it was a lot of fun! This year, my parents and I proudly sponsored the Shorthorn breed in the Knox County Fair junior beef show.

 

 

beef...it's what's for dinner

 

 

BEEF...it's what's for dinner! I worked Friday and Saturday evenings at the Knox County Cattlemen's Association food stand at the Knox County Fair. I have enjoyed it and looked forward to it every summer! As a little girl, the Knox County Fair always meant promoting BEEF! 

 

love my knox county cattlemen shirt!

 
Great cattle. Great beef. Great friends. It was an enjoyable 2014 Knox County Fair! I am so blessed to be with wonderful cattlemen and beef producers! I look forward to 2015 at the Knox County Fair!

 

Another Successful Year

Calves have been weaned and vaccinated with their first round of shots since September 17th. With warm and dry weather we had after weaning, there was no need to run any calves through the chute to treat for coughs, temperatures or runny noses. Weaning weights this fall were average for both steers and heifers at each herd. This was expected with the hot, dry summer we had. It is amazing how quickly the calves are growing. Looks like I will be halter breaking heifers very soon!

Since the crops were harvested, the cows grazed on corn stalks in the fall. What a pretty sight, especially with a gorgeous fall sunset in the background! November 26th and 27th, we pregnancy checked and vaccinated our cattle herds with our pre-calving health program. We were very pleased that our cattle had a conception rate of 98.5% and were due to calves in March and April. Our calves received their second round of vaccinations on December 17th. My dad and I went through the selection process of choosing replacement heifers. Each year we retain 12-14 head of heifers or about 20% of our herd. This year, we chose 12 head of heifers. They received their calfhood vaccination from our vet, Dr Baird. We put in a new numbered tag to identify our heifers. I recorded data to prepare for registering our heifers for pedigrees with the American Shorthorn Association.