There’s some flexibility around good cows that aren’t pregnant, depending on the philosphy of the ranch, but poor-productivity cows should be culled, livestock nutritionist Peter Vitti says.
Tag Archives calving
High prices make cow culling decisions easier
Better Bunks and Pastures: There’s some flexibility around good cows that aren’t pregnant, but poor cows should be culled
Three birthdays and calving begins
Eppich News: It was a great calving season, despite a reminder why quick veterinary help is indispensable
The calves were up in weight and cows and heifers calved without assistance in 2025 at the Eppich ranch in Saskatchewan.
Give special attention to first-calved beef heifers
Better Bunks and Pastures: Getting heifers ready for their next pregnancy is the goal of a nutrition program specifically for them
Heifers that have calves for the first time need special attention, and getting them ready for their next pregnancy is the goal of a nutrition program specifically for them.
Keep on top of pain this calving season
Controlling pain during calving can help keep both calf and mother healthy and lead to better outcomes
A more comfortable delivery generally jumpstarts the odds of a healthy cow and a calf that will pair well and start nursing without issue.
Reframing the view on heifer retention
Expanded screening tools can take the guesswork out of choosing replacement heifers
Replacing heifers based on visual phenotype and genetic merit, rather than early screening, leaves potential long-term herd retention on the table, University of Missouri animal scientist Jordan Thomas says.
Feed an all-star diet to your beef cows after calving
Better Bunks & Pastures: It pays to invest in cows to get them from calving to their next pregnancy
For a cow to feed a calf and retain its own body condition requires a good solid intake of essential nutrients. First-calf heifers also need more of the same nutrients to gain a couple of hundred pounds of weight as they grow into maturity.
Calving season: Timing and transition
Beef producers talk about their motivations for changing calving timing
For many cow-calf producers, calving season is a favourite time of year. After waiting 283 days, farmers are finally able to see the result of their breeding decisions as well as welcome a new crop of animals that will likely become a large portion of their annual revenue. Looking at survey data over the past […] Read more
GPS system for cattle brings individual animal management to the range
Smart Paddock can measure behaviour of animals far from home
An Australian company with a Canadian connection, Smart Paddock won the Rising Star category in the Canadian Animal AgTech innovation competition at Agribition in late 2024. Smart Paddock’s founder and chief executive officer, Darren Wolchyn, moved his family from Alberta to Australia and ended up working on GPS-tracking golf carts. Ranching friends in Alberta suggested […] Read more
The fall run: the rancher’s sprint
A Little Bit Western: Most of the revenue, data and calf movement come in the fall
I like to joke that ranching is a marathon, except when it is a sprint, and then it’s that too. There are certainly times when you are racing from one urgent task to another. While it feels like the rest of the working world has three to five business days to respond to a request, […] Read more
Calving season brings blizzards and twins
Eppich News: Loss, and then surprise, shows the challenges of managing cows
On Feb. 27 we bought a bull from Ulrich Herefords. It was the last bull sale for Peter Ulrich and we wanted to get the chance to have some more Ulrich Hereford bloodlines in our small registered Hereford herd. We were not able to attend the sale due to the weather, so Gregory talked to […] Read more
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