02/16/07 Calving season

Calving Season 2007 It seems like we just shipped last year's calves and now calving season is already here. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back with some calving season comments. In our part of the Northwest spring calving season has started with a few of the earlier calves already here. Calving time is when we get to see if those bull purchases we made last year were worth the money or if that special cow will have an even better calf this year. Spring calving can be cold, windy, rainy, pleasant, rewarding, frustrating, snowy, foggy, or bright and beautiful. This is the time of year ranchers can experience the miracle of new life or the frustration of finding a dead newborn calf and wondering what they might have done to save it. Truth is, it takes a lot of luck to have them all born with no problems and a fact of life that all the calves are just not meant to be born and live. Our calving season started with the first calf born in the cowherd being found dead from what looked like maybe just too much time taken at the wrong stage of the birthing process. The day ended on a better note with the live calf we got from the first-calf heifers. This heifer needed a little assistance, which we gave a bit quicker than we normally do. I had just read a short article about research from Oklahoma State University and the USDA experiment station in Miles City, Montana citing data that cows should be assisted about twice as quickly as previously thought. It sure seemed the right advice since this calf was standing and nursing within forty-five minutes of birth. Well, calving season has started. I'm Jeff Keane.