Calving procedures and record keeping

6 posts
Fri, 01/18/2013 - 10:53 #1

Member for

11 years 3 months
BecG
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 01/15/2013 - 15:55

Calving procedures and record keeping

Hi members,

I was just wanting to know how other people go about there inductions for calves (time of branding, castrating, vaccinations and what they vaccinate for) and recommendations on how to keep good records of this sort of stuff. I am based in central queensland and have a small herd of brangus that i would like to start breeding (once I understand what's involved :) )

Thanks & I look forward to your responses :)

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Tue, 01/22/2013 - 11:30 #2
barb
Last seen: 09/17/2019 - 18:07
Joined: 11/23/2011 - 09:38

Hi grazier from central Queensland (sorry don't know your name),

my speciality is goats however, I do run a small herd of cattle and this is what I do.

1. get a paddock book and in this you can record all the procedures and events relating to your cattle: a hard covered A4 exercise book will do.

2. when you join or Artificially inseminate your cows cows record it in the book. Date of mating, Sire, Cow ID, date of expected calf drop. Average gestation period of a cow is 283 DAYS.

3. Calves are weaned at approximately 6 months of age. keep away from mothers for at least two weeks if not selling straight off the property. Or you can use weaner rings if you don't have a different secure paddock to put the calves in. See one of the previous forum posts about calf weaner rings.

4. The castrating, vaccinating, drenching or back lining for parasites and branding are all done at the same time. It is usual to watch an experienced person carry out all of these operations before attempting them yourself. Most primary producers are more than happy to teach others how to do these operations. Regarding the branding: Heat the branding iron and then let the branding iron cool to dark cherry red before branding. when applying the branding iron hold it in place on the hide for no more than 3 seconds as you don't want to burn through the hide into the muscle. Alternatively you can buy equipment to freeze brand. Before branding you must register the brand. get in touch with DPI who will tell you what you have to do to register the brand and have it made.  The brand makers are registered to do so by the Qld government and DPI will give you a list of authorised brand makers when you register your brand.

5.  When vaccinating do it behind the shoulder and always in the same place with each beast that way if they have a lump in the skin which could be an abcess, you will know if it is  a lump from the injection or perhaps an infective abcess if it is elswhere. They can get a lump from the vax. but this is usually a cold abcess due to the adjuvant in the vax used to boost its action on the immune system. It is usual to use 7 in 1 vaccines for cattle  which will cover all the major diseases cattle are prone to. If you look up in your search engine, 'cattle+7 in 1 vaccine' it will fully explain what it contains and how often to vaccinate etc. Cattle here are vaccinated at weaning and then every twelve months.   

There is soft ware available to keep all these records if you would prefer to keep them on computer, but you will still need a paddock book as it is pretty easy to forget a number or name when you are working with the animals. Usually a small notebook is all that is needed in this case. I usually take this with me and then transfer the info onto the computer later.

Cows are usually ready to breed once they have reached 60% or moe of their adult weight for the breed- usually between 12 to 18 months. Different breeds will vary of course.

Be warned, If you are going to keep a bull be very careful of him even if he seems very quiet. This especially applies if he has been bottle raised and not raised on his mother. The reason for this is because being raised by humans he doesn't have the same natural respect for them he would if he had not been in such close contact with them. There was the recent case of a fellow in Qld who had three pet bulls, raised on the bottle, who was gored severely by one of them when stroking his muzzle. He was still in hosptal when I last heard and the bulls were sent to the sale yards. Hope this hasn't turned you off, but forwarned is forarmed as the old saying goes.

Growing and breeding your own cattle can be a very satisfying experience.

regards,

Barb

 

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Tue, 01/22/2013 - 18:03 #3
rmcpb
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 10/22/2012 - 11:13

Barb just about got it all in one run. The only other thing I would suggest is to put an ear tag into the calf as soon as the mother will let you near it. That way you can record its number and the mother's number so you get a good matchup for your records.

Cheers
Rob.

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Tue, 01/22/2013 - 20:09 #4
barb
Last seen: 09/17/2019 - 18:07
Joined: 11/23/2011 - 09:38

Hi Bec,

Rob is right. Sorry, forgot about the tagging.

Thanks Rob,

barb

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Thu, 01/24/2013 - 19:42 #5
BecG
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 01/15/2013 - 15:55

Thanks very much Barb for such a detailed answer - very much appreciated :) Will slowly start to get it all together now.

And thanks Rob for the calf ID tag with the mother - I've never heard of anyone doing that before but that's an excellent idea

 

Thanks again :)

Bec

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Fri, 01/25/2013 - 15:33 #6
rmcpb
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 10/22/2012 - 11:13

Bec,

Tagging calves and matching them with their mother is the only way to check the performance of the mother which allows you to improve your herd. If you have a fair mob it gets a bit "interesting" to really match them but it can be done. Then the tags can be scanned over the scales to monitor the calves performance over time and compare to eachother.

Cheers
Rob.

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