Late winter and spring are when most calves in the U.S. are born, and this should be an exciting and low stress event for beef producers. I just talked to a producer that described the start of calving season as “Christmas” for him due to the anticipation of another uneventful calving season along with the excitement to see the calves out of his new herd sires.

I am writing this article as a “checklist” where hopefully you can say “already have the covered” or “yes, that is how we do it.” I am also hoping to give a few suggestions where the response is, “that sounds like a good idea, and we will try that this year.”

1, Cows should be in Body Condition Score (BCS) 5.5-6.0 at calving and heifers at 6.5-7.0 on a scale of 1 (deathly thin) to 9 (obese). If you are calving the end of February and your animals are too thin, there is not enough time to “fix” this problem. This will be a “address next year” plan. Females in the correct BCS produce more and higher quality colostrum (the most important meal a calf will ever ingest) so calves will get a healthy start. Adequate BCS is also key to females rebreeding on time.

It is a common fallacy to hear someone say after a large calf needed assistance to be delivered, “Well, we fed that heifer too well and the calf got too big.” Nutrition has very little to do with dystocia (difficult calving) issues and is mainly a genetic issue.

2. If you have issues with neonatal diarrhea, vaccinating cows to prevent calf scours can be helpful. While solving the environmental problem is the key to eliminating calf scours, vaccines can help. These need to be given about six-eight weeks prior to calving as that is when the colostrum is being developed. Check with your herd health veterinarian for a recommendation on which product to use.

3. The ideal place to calve is out on pasture on green grass. I know that is not what everyone does, but it is ideal. My partner in veterinary practice always said, “The older our clients get the more they reject winter calving.”

If you do calve in winter and use a calving barn, be meticulous about cleanliness. Use 3-4” of lime and then bed well. Clean out the bedding or add more to make a bed pack so that the next calf to enter the pen has almost zero chance of being contaminated with manure from the previous pair. Get the pairs out on pasture as soon as possible as “the solution to pollution is dilution” and the less the calf is exposed to manure the better. Having calf huts out in the pasture that calves can access, but cows cannot, is an excellent idea. Put a hotwire high enough for calves to get under and to keep cows out. Never allow cows to have free access to a barn during calving season.

4. Be sure to have OB sleeves, lube, OB chains & handles, calf puller, disinfectant and powdered colostrum replacement (not supplement) on hand in case any are needed.

5. If you are calving out heifers, they should be checked frequently throughout the day and evening. If your heifers are bred to a proven calving ease bull, this time commitment can be greatly reduced. Cows should have minimal calving issues so checking a few times a day should be adequate.

6. When to intervene or call for assistance? My rule of thumb is the female must have “Progress every hour.” If you see a heifer or cow that is not calving at 7 a.m. and has the water sac out at 9 a.m., you should see the feet by 10 a.m. and the calf should be born by 11 a.m. If either of these events do not happen, you need to intervene. Clean the cow up, glove up, lube the sleeve and reach in to see if you can deliver the calf. If not, call your herd health veterinarian.

7. I use the “Utrecht Method” when delivering calves and I would never go back to how I used to deliver calves. With this method, you manually dilate the birth canal, get the calf in the correct position, lay the cow down using a rope with the double half hitch method and slowly pull the calf straight back only when the cow is pushing. I taught veterinary students for 18 years and received more compliments on teaching this technique than anything else I did. It is very low stress on the cow, calf and the person assisting with delivery. I have videos of how to do this on my website, www.mwbeefcattle.com. Click on “Educational Material” and then “Videos” to view the four videos.

8. If you assist the delivery, make sure the calf’s nose is clean and he is breathing well. If you have doubts, stick a clean straw up his nose to stimulate breathing. Place the calf on his sternum so both lungs inflate properly.

9. After you have delivered a calf, ALWAYS check to see if there are more.

10. If the calf is not nursing within one-two hours after birth, make sure he gets colostrum. I use the rule of “2x4 and 4x8/” I want two quarts of colostrum by 4 hours of age and a total of four by 8 hours of age. More than 90 percent of your calves should be up and nursing colostrum within an hour of birth. If they are not, get colostrum into these calves (and look strongly at your genetics to see if that’s the problem) by 4 hours of birth.

A trick that I use to monitor a calf that I am suspicious that he has not nursed is to tube the calf with two quarts of colostrum – I also have a video of how to use an esophageal feeder on my website – and then separate the calf from the cow using a short gate so the cow can still reach over and smell the calf. Keep them separate for about eight hours and then turn them together. A calf that knows how to nurse will immediately go to his dam and start nursing because he has not nursed for eight hours. A calf that is a “dummy” will walk over and maybe try to nurse but does not get a teat into his mouth. This calf needs the “Madigan squeeze” (lots of YouTube videos) and if this does not work, you will need to tube the calf twice daily until it learns how to nurse. Be sure to mark it as a feedlot animal because you don’t want these genetics in your herd.

11. Dipping the navel is optional. If calves are born out on green grass, I see no reason to do this. If born in a barn, it is a wise decision.

I hope you will examine this list and nod in the affirmative that this is already your plan for a fun and low stress calving season. I also hope that you picked up one or two new ideas that will make calving season 2025 your best yet.