Calving Season Prep

Calving season is the most important six to eight weeks of the year for most cow-calf operations. Everything that happens in those weeks, calf health, colostrum timing, facility cleanliness, your own sleep schedule, has a direct line to your weaning weight and your year-end receipts. This guide is a working checklist organized by timeline: what to do 90 days out, 30 days out, two weeks out, and once the season is rolling.

90 Days Before Calving Starts

Ninety days before your first expected calf is when you set the table. Vaccinations, body condition, and late-gestation nutrition all need lead time. If you wait until pens are full of close-up cows, you are fixing problems you could have prevented.

Vaccination program

Work with your veterinarian to plan pre-calving vaccinations roughly 90 days before your first expected calf. Your vet knows your herd history and regional disease pressure. Do not copy a neighbor’s protocol off the fence post.

Most herds use a respiratory and reproductive vaccine program before calving. Products for IBR, BVD, PI3, and BRSV, whether modified-live or killed, generally need three to six weeks before calving to do their job. First-calf heifers often need an initial dose plus a booster, so start them even earlier than mature cows.

Vaccinating dams before calving improves the quality of antibodies they pass in colostrum. That matters more than most people realize until they are tube-feeding a calf that never got enough.

Run internal and external parasite control at the same time if your vet recommends it. Lice, grubs, and internal worms steal condition when cows need every pound they can carry into calving.

Body condition scoring belongs in this same window. Target BCS 5 to 5.5 for mature cows and 5.5 to 6 for first-calf heifers at calving. Thin cows need to be sorted and fed separately now. You cannot condition-score a cow into shape in the last 30 days. By then you are managing what you already built.

Nutrition planning

The third trimester is when roughly 75% of fetal growth happens. Nutritional shortfalls now show up as weak, light calves and cows that milk poorly after birth. Protein and energy requirements spike in the last 60 days. Balance rations for the body condition targets above, not just for maintenance.

Review hay or silage test results now. Do not assume last year’s analysis still applies. A stack can change in storage, and a bad test you ignore in November costs you in February.

Minerals matter for colostrum quality and calf immunity. Copper, zinc, and selenium status in the dam affects what the calf gets in that first nursing. If your mineral program has been on autopilot, pull a sample or talk to your nutritionist before calving starts.

When you are ready to balance a late-gestation ration against your hay test, request the ration calculator on Turnrow, or have your county Extension agent or feed rep run the numbers. Do the math before you are buying supplement in a hurry.

30 Days Before Calving Starts

Thirty days out is facilities, equipment, and making sure nothing fails at 2 a.m. when you are half asleep and the wind is blowing.

Facility inspection and setup

Walk every calving pen, gate, alley, and head catch. Fix or replace anything broken now, not when a heifer is halfway through the chute.

• Check all lights. Buy replacement bulbs. Keep a battery-powered backup where you can grab it without hunting the shop.
• Clean and bed calving pens. A common rule of thumb is at least one roomy calving pen, about 16 square meters, per 10 cows in the group. Your setup may differ, but crowded, muddy pens are where scours and navel problems start.
• The pen should be clean, dry, well ventilated, and easy to observe. “Available” is not the same as “ready.”
• Stockpile bedding close by. Straw is preferred in many setups because it insulates and stays drier than hay bedding. You will use more than you think.
• If you run calving cameras, test signal and battery backup now. A camera that worked in October and died in January is worse than no camera because you trusted it.
• Make sure water is accessible in or near calving facilities for dams. A cow that will not leave a fresh calf to drink still needs water within reach.

Equipment check

Build a physical checklist and check each item off. Tape it inside the barn door and work through it once a year.

• Calf puller or calving jack: clean, lubricated, functioning
• Obstetrical chains or straps (two sets): clean and stored where you can find them at 2 a.m.
• Obstetrical lubricant: full supply
• Arm-length plastic sleeves
• Latex gloves
• Halters and ropes
• Esophageal feeder (tube feeder)
• Calf feeding bottles and nipples
• Flashlights and headlamps with fresh batteries in all of them
• Scale or weight tape
• Ear tags, tagger, and marking supplies
• Thermometer
• Calf warming box or heat lamp

Test the puller before you need it. Grease the jack and make sure chains are not rusted shut.

Build your calving kit

A calving kit is a single container, tote, bucket, or bag, that holds everything you need for an assist. It lives near the calving area. When you need it, you need it immediately.

At minimum, your kit should include:

• Obstetrical lube, chains, gloves, and sleeves
• Flashlight
• Iodine for navel dipping
• Colostrum tube feeder and esophageal feeder
• Electrolytes for a sick calf
• Calf feeding bottle
• Your vet’s phone number written on a card inside the kit. Not in your phone contacts. On a card, in the kit, because phones die and hands are dirty.

Before the season starts, run your breeding dates through the cattle gestation chart so you know when each group should start calving. Breed length varies. A 283-day Angus assumption on a Brahman-influenced cow will put you in the wrong pasture on the wrong night.

Two Weeks Before Calving Starts

The last two weeks are about colostrum, cow movement, and making sure everyone who checks cattle knows what normal labor looks like.

Colostrum management plan

Colostrum is not optional. A calf that does not receive adequate colostrum in the first 6 to 12 hours has significantly impaired passive immunity. That calf may look fine on day three and be dead on day ten.

Target roughly 10% of body weight in colostrum within the first six hours. For a 90-pound calf, that is about 1.5 quarts minimum. Bigger calves need more. Weigh when you can.

Have colostrum replacer on hand, not just supplement. Know the difference. Colostrum replacer is formulated to replace maternal colostrum when the cow has none or the calf cannot nurse. Colostrum supplement is additive only and does not stand alone for a calf that got zero.

Keep enough replacer for at least three to five calves. One bad night with twins and a heifer that will not mother can burn through your supply fast.

If your operation allows, collect and freeze colostrum from high-producing cows during the season for later use. Label bags with date and cow ID.

Storage rules are simple and worth posting in the barn:

• Refrigerate colostrum up to 24 hours
• Freeze for up to 12 months at 0°F
• Thaw in warm water. Never microwave. You will cook the antibodies you are trying to save

Move close-up cows and heifers

Move first-calf heifers to a close observation area about 30 days before their first expected calving. Heifers need more checks and more patience than mature cows.

Rotate mature cows to a close calving pasture about two weeks out. The goal is to shorten the distance between where they calve and where you can help them.

Rotating pastures every 10 to 14 days as cows calve reduces exposure of younger calves to scours pathogens from older calves.

Know the signs

Review the three stages of labor with everyone who will be checking cattle. Spouse, kids, hired hand, whoever is on the schedule.

1. Stage 1: Restlessness, separating from the herd, off feed. Can last two to six hours. Easy to miss if you are only driving by at daylight.
2. Stage 2: Active straining, water sac visible. The calf should be delivered within about 30 minutes of active pushing. This is where heifers get into trouble.
3. Stage 3: Placenta expulsion. Should pass within 12 hours. Retained placenta after 24 hours needs a vet call.

Know when to assist and when to call. If active straining goes 30 minutes with no progress, assist. If you are not sure what you are feeling during an assist, call your vet. Pride has killed more calves than bad luck.

During Calving Season

Once calves are hitting the ground, the job shifts to observation, the first hour after birth, and staying ahead of scours.

Observation frequency

• First-calf heifers: check every two hours, 24 hours a day, during the peak of their expected calving window. That sounds brutal because it is. Split shifts if you can.
• Mature cows: check every three to four hours. Still walk the pen at night.
• Night checks are non-negotiable in cold weather. A wet calf at 28°F dies fast. Hypothermia does not send a warning text.

Keep a simple record for each pair as you go: dam ID, date, calf ID, birth weight, colostrum status, and any problems. More on records below, but do not tell yourself you will write it down tomorrow.

The first hour after birth

1. Clear mucus from the nose and mouth if the cow has not. Most cows do a good job. Some do not, especially heifers.
2. Check that the calf is breathing and trying to rise. Most will be on their feet within 20 to 30 minutes in normal weather.
3. Dip the navel in 7% tincture of iodine within the first 30 minutes. The navel is the single biggest infection entry point on a newborn calf. Dip it every time, even when you are tired.
4. Watch for the calf to nurse. It should find the udder and nurse vigorously within two to four hours. A calf that stands but does not suck needs intervention, not another hour of “let’s see.”
5. If the cow is rejecting the calf, intervene early. Putting colostrum in via tube feeder is faster than waiting for the cow to accept the calf while the calf’s gut clock runs out.
6. Weigh the calf when possible. Birth weight drives your colostrum target. A 65-pound calf and a 95-pound calf do not get the same volume.

Scours prevention and response

Scours, calf diarrhea, is the leading cause of calf death under 30 days. Prevention beats treatment every time.

Prevention comes down to:

• Clean pens
• Adequate colostrum
• Pasture rotation
• Vaccination of dams per your vet plan

You cannot vaccinate your way out of a muddy pen, but you can vaccinate and still lose calves in a dirty lot.

Treatment starts with oral electrolytes. A scouring calf can die from dehydration before the bug kills it. Know your vet’s protocol for when to use antibiotics versus electrolytes only. Overusing antibiotics does not fix poor colostrum management.

Keep electrolyte packets in the calving kit. Know how to mix them and how to give them by bottle or tube feeder before you have a calf that cannot stand.

Keeping Records

Good calving records take about 90 seconds per pair and save hours of guesswork later. They also make preg checking and culling decisions easier next fall.

Track at minimum:

• Dam ID and breeding date
• Expected calving date (use the calculator)
• Actual calving date
• Calf ID from ear tag
• Birth weight
• Colostrum status: nursed on own, tube fed, or colostrum replacer
• Any problems: assistance required, retained placenta, rejection
• Disposition to pasture date

A whiteboard on the barn wall works. So does a notes app on your phone. What does not work is trying to remember who calved when after the fact, when three black baldy calves are running together and you are not sure which one was the pull.

Run breeding dates for your groups through the cattle gestation chart at the start of the season so expected dates are on the board before the first calf drops. Update actual dates as you go. That sheet is worth more than any spreadsheet you never opened in April.

The ranchers who have the smoothest calving seasons are not necessarily the luckiest. They are the ones who walked through every checklist item before the first cow broke water. Calving season is managed in October and November so it is predictable in February and March. The work you do now determines what you are chasing at midnight.