Breeding season preparations are crucial for any cow/calf producer’s bottom line. Their steps will determine if they will have a good calf crop. Good quality calves to sell are the defining factor between a successful and a not successful rancher.
As a cow/calf producer, you hold the key to a successful breeding season. Your management decisions before and during the calving season are crucial. The steps you take now will determine whether you start the season on the right footing or find yourself playing catch-up. Remember, your actions directly impact the health and productivity of your herd.
For a cow to produce a calf every year, she must be rebred 80 days after she has calved. This 80-day timeline is crucial because it takes into account the cow’s reproductive cycle. The 80 days may not seem like a short time, but you must remember that she will not be going into estrus for at least 30 days after that calf is born, so your window is a little shorter.
So, what can you do to prepare for an outstanding breeding season? Well, here are three things that you can look at to improve your chances of having a large calf crop.
You can feel it in the air; the days are getting shorter, and the weather is getting cooler (maybe). It will soon be the time that most producers do their fall processing. They will be running their cows through the chutes, and for any spring-born calves, they will be weaning them from their mommas.
BRD, or bovine respiratory disease, is a general term for any respiratory disease in cattle. There is a range of factors that can cause this disease. The common names usually used for this disease are pneumonia or shipping fever. Stocker and feedlot operations are often where this disease occurs. It occurs more often there because of the extreme stress that calves are put under from weaning and then being shipped.
Breeding season preparations are crucial for any cow/calf producer’s bottom line. Their steps will determine if they will have a good calf crop. Good quality calves to sell are the defining factor between a successful and a not successful rancher.
You can feel it in the air, the days are getting shorter and the weather is getting cooler. It will soon be the time that most producers do their fall processing. They will be running their cows through the chutes and for any spring-born calves they will be weaning them from their mommas.
BRD, or bovine respiratory disease, is a general term for any respiratory disease in cattle. There is a range of factors that can cause this disease. The common names normally used for this disease are pneumonia or shipping fever. Stocker and feedlot operations are often where this disease occurs. This is because of the extreme stress that calves are put under from weaning and then being shipped.
Breeding season preparations are a very important task for any cow/calf producer’s bottom line. The steps that they take now will determine if they will have a good calf crop or not. Having good quality calves to sell is the defining factor between a successful and a not successful rancher.
Treatment protocols are often seen as something used only by feedyards and large stocker operations. People that deal with large numbers of animals at a time.
Spring can be a very busy time for producers. Calving season is in full swing as well as putting fertilizer out. With breeding season being months away in some cases it is easy to neglect preparing for it. But that would not be the best move to make. Now is the time to start getting prepared for it. Doing so will give you time to correct any issues that may come up.
