10 March 2025

5 minute read

By: Sarah Mikesell

North America

Erika Nagorske, DVM with Four Star Veterinary Service in Chickasaw, Ohio, recently spoke to The Cattle Site’s Sarah Mikesell about challenges during beef calving season. Dr. Nagorske is based out of Rushmore, Minnesota.

With calving season upon us, some producers may just be starting while others may be knee-deep into the season. It seems some producers prefer the late winter months while others wait for spring to arrive, but both times provide challenges for calves to thrive.

“In the winter months, we’re really worried about cold temperatures and making sure we get that calf off to a good start, and as we move into spring, there are other elements like rain and mud that can really affect calf health and quality for our producers,” said Dr. Nagorske.

Whether this is your first season or your 50^th season calving, it’s a good idea to consider the basics plus some tips to help the process go smoothly:

Warmth

For winter and spring beef calving, it’s critical to provide a place where a cow can lay down and have a calf in a warm environment. Heated barns aren’t very common in the US but try to get the mama cow out of the wind into a big straw bedded area.

“Straw has the best insulation and absorption factor for bedding, so we like to see it used in calving areas and in the newborn calf area,” she said. “Again, make sure mama is protected from the elements. If it’s snowing or raining outside, ensure she has a dry, clean place to lay down and have her calf.”

Dry

Another challenge with winter calving is that it may be -20°F and the calf is born soaking wet.

“The mama cow’s instinct is to get up and lick the calf dry, but if they’re still wet and they might chill, freeze and potentially die before that cow is physically able to lick them all the way off,” she explained. “There are portable drying calf boxes that have warm air circulating through them that you can put calves in for a little bit just to get them dry immediately after birth. Then we want to make sure to get them back to mama, so they can get their colostrum meal as soon as possible.”

Colostrum

Once the calf is dry, make sure that it is strong enough to get its first colostrum meal from the cow. Ensure the cow or heifer has milk to give, and that that calf is efficiently nursing within six hours of birth. It is critical that the calf nurse during the first six hours because that’s when the calf’s gut is able to absorb the important antibodies that are being passed through the colostrum.

“When a calf is born, essentially their gut lining is open to absorb the antibodies and a lot of other really important things in colostrum,” she said. “Then during the first 24 hours, those cell junctions start to close in the gut, and they can’t absorb anything that goes through the intestines after that. This is by design because as they get older, calves start licking, sniffing and picking up stuff in their mouth, and you don’t want it to be able to absorb everything that goes through the digestive system.”

Mama cow is in charge

Once colostrum is in, the mama cow takes over and you want to just let her do her thing.

“Continue to provide a clean, dry place to lay out of the wind, and check on mama cows and calves frequently, but a good mama cow will do the rest,” she said. “You do want to make sure that mom has a solid nutrition program and is getting the calories needed to provide milk to the calf, and she has the energy and body condition to support the newborn calf.”

Additional tips:

Give cow-calf pairs some space. If you crowd your cow-calf pairs, there are different stressors that could impact calf health. There’s more exposure to pathogens, especially if you have your newborn baby calves next to older calves that are already shedding certain pathogens.

Straw for warmth. Continue to provide a lot of straw in the resting area for cow-calf pairs to nest and stay warm.

Calf huts for really cold, windy weather. If cow-calf pairs are doing well, they often are moved to a pen outside with either a windbreak or calf huts that only the calves can go into to get a break from the cold. However, it’s important to monitor the huts because if a calf is sick, it usually seeks out that spot. They may be scouring and could contaminate the hut, and/or a sick calf may be missed while hiding in the corner of the calf hut. Properly managed, they can be an excellent warming space, but make sure to monitor.

Tag, vaccinate and castrate. Within about 24 hours, add an ear tag, administer vaccines to strengthen the calf’s immune system and band bull calves. There’s a new lidocaine-infused band out now that works really well and is a good option for calf pain management.

Plan for a tight calving window. This will help with overall health challenges and disease pressure. If you have a six-month-old calf pooping right next to a newborn calf, the six-month-old calf probably has pathogens in its poop that doesn’t make it sick, but it could make the newborn calf next to it sick. So, try to plan for a 30-day calving window to minimize disease pressure. Plus, you can work all the calves at the same time, and they’ll be in the same window for vaccine response, and also for your marketing window.