late autunm calving

[ann]

I have someone wanting to hire my bull at this momnent in time, however he has no inside accommadation and I'm rather consern as to how calves born late sept-oct will cope with the sort of wet autumns and winters we are getting, does anyone else calve successfully at this time of year, how keep their cows out all winter with no structural kind of shelter.

[JamsHundred]

Ann, I'm in the US, but thought I'd reply as I calve year round.
My oldest cow, who will be 19 in May just calved a little heifer on Monday, and I was remarking too another breeder about the wonders of "Mother Nature". Here, it is winter, ( though our weather has mostly been like fall to date), and nature has provided her a coat that is thick and full and very long so she is protected from the winter cold. Calves I have born in spring and summer have much less fur.

As to loaning your bull. I have often "loaned" a bull to others, but I really prefer to bring the cows to me. I worry about the care and attention my bull will receive. I don't want someone mis-handling a gentle animal for instance. There is also a concern as to health and exposure to disease.

My animals are on pasture year round, and even though there are lean-to shelters they can enter, they rarely do. Most often they do their "down" time in the woods lying on the leaves or pine needles.

[Woodmagic]

I think you are right to have some concern. The American climate is very different; I had Canadians who visited me on one occasion, who returned home early because they couldn’t take the cold! In this country humidity is so much higher, a lot depends on the stockmanshp and the farm itself. A holding with wooded areas, and dry lying ground could well winter out without problems. I recognised when I moved to this low-lying wet farm that a building was essential.
The real problem is not cold, a thick coat will cope with that, but they need somewhere dry to lie. My cows calve in the summer, but I would not want them out at this time of year overnight. They are always anxious to get out in the morning, but the recent wet weather has made them happy to come inside again a few hours later.
As to hiring out, it is much more usual this side of ‘the pond’. Without it there would be many fewer Dexters, a number of breeders have done it regularly for years and I have never heard of any problems occurring, although I admit I was never keen to do it myself.

[Kathy Millar]

I am always fascinated by this concept of keeping animals outside all year round with no shelter. I know of people in Alberta who do this but there is no rain in the winter and the air is very dry but cold (down to minus 40 in places). Apparently these cattle just go into the woods to get out of the wind which is a real killer at those temperatures.

Here on the west coast we get lots of rain and at the moment it is being acompanied by wind storms so we get that "horizontal rain" that some Brits talk about. I agree with Beryl that it is the rain, not the cold, that is the problem so I opt for shelter too just so they have somewhere to lay down at night that is dry.

[Martin]

My cows are still out on good well drained pasture that is standing up well and I hope to keep them out until mid January. Despite all the rain they seem to be keeping condition (with the help of a few feed blocks) and are very cheap to keep at the moment. My cows calve in March so I do not have any young calves about at this time of year.
I believe you are right to be concerned about the welfare of young calves at this time of year, especially with the amount of rain we have had, it has been relentless at times. I would go and take a look, you may be pleasantly surprised and find your fears were not justified.

[ann]

The person who wishes to hire my bull is rather un organised and his last calf was born in july,so it should be old enough to cope with a winter outside.

[Kirk- Cascade Herd US]

We live in the foothills of the Cascade Range, near Mount Hood, in Oregon (US). We get 70 inches of rain per year, most of it in the late fall, winter and spring. We're just below the snow line, so we get lots of cold rain.

I feel very guilty, but our Dexters are out in the weather year round, and NEVER have any shelter. We plan our calving for mid to late spring when its warmer. The cows and calves are all very healthy and seem to thrive. They usually can get under some trees but not always, and have slept on well-drained but very wet cold ground in the open many many nights. I always make certain they have full bellies of hay at bed-time to help keep them warm and this seems crucial.

When I'm feeling really guilty, I go out and part their hair to see just how soaked to the skin they are.... but what I find is that they have a relatively dry undercoat and that their long outercoat acts like shingles on a roof in guiding the cold rain off their backs.

Why don't I bring them inside? Well, the reason humans catch colds in the winter has nothing to do with the cold weather. It has to do with us all going inside and passing germs to each other in close quarters. Our herd is very healthy and they haven't had as much as a sniffle.

Kirk

[Pauline]

Although your concern is rightfully for the calf,don't forget the mother-It is imperative that she is fed high quality hay with pellets mixed with a mineral supplement .We lost a mother at new year two years ago with the staggers,despite surrounding her with magnesium licks and feed blocks.The vet reckoned that she was too depressed to lick them-not as depressed as I was at losing a pedigree cow and having to bottle feed a three week old calf!To be fair that is the only tragedy we have had so far,in seven years ,and our herd continues to give us pleasure and fabulous meat.

[Inger]

Why choose to have calves born in Autumn? The grass grows best in Spring, so why not go with nature and stick to Spring born calves? ???

[Louisa Gidney]

I need to check my facts, but I believe Stephen Hall published an article some years ago that showed survivability of autumn born calves in the Chillingham cattle was better than that for spring born calves. Certainly, I have found documentary evidence that C16th policy was to slaughter April/May born calves to maximise the spring flush of milk for butter & cheese production.

[jim]

We live in the interior of British Columbia, half way between Alberta and the west[wet] coast. We get alot of fall and winter rain and a few nights of -20C. We keep a couple of cows on a fall calving schedule to enable us to have a milk cow around 12 months of the year. Fall calving doen't seem to provide any problems and in fact allows the calves to be born when there are few flies. The calves do have some shelter because we put them in a sparate covered pen overnight so that we can get a little milk in the morning. This system also allows for lots of handling of the potential wee milkers of the future!