Question about newborns in this cold weather

[shortii]

I was wondering what everyone uses on newborn calves ears in this cold of weather to keep them from freezing off?
My cows haven't started to calve yet, but I do feel this cold weather is going to keep coming and going so I would like to be prepared.

Thanks in advance

 

[Tyler]

Once mamma has licked them off duct tape their ears back onto their neck, after a day or two take of the tape, their circulation should be good enough to keep them warm by then.  I think if the cow would quit licking them once they are dry they would be fine but the constant licking seems to keep them wet and cause them to freeze.  That seems to be the reason the ear muffs never worked for us because the cow would get them wet too.

 

[RankeCattleCo]

Duct tape some a couple pairs of tube socks on their ear. Even did some tails on occasion! (lol)

 

[RyanChandler]

Calve later

 

[uluru]

cozy caps
www.ulurushorthorns.com

 

[HAB]

We calve when it is -20 quite regularly.  We use vet wrap to pin the ears back, then duct tape.  The tape doesn't stick to the hair.  We do it right when they hit the ground.  With -30 windchills they freeze quick.  We miss a few, but it works well.

 

[shortii]

Thanks for the advice everyone

 

[justintime]

pantyhose, secured in place by duct tape works as well. Make sure you don't wrap the duct tape too tight in their neck so that they can breath easily. Most anything works that will pin the ears to the body until they get going good.  I lost the ears on one of my best bull calves last spring when he was almost a month old. With the winter we had last year, I feel fortunate to only have lost a few ears.

 

[Tyler]

Calve later

How many June herd bulls have you bought?

 

[obie105]

We have a small herd and only calve a few in the cold so for the first week we just leave the babies in the barn and kick the cows out for water in the morn and night. Seems to have worked for us over the years. My friend that does close to 100 every winter does close to the same thing by using a huge shed but he has to haul everything home from pasture to calve anyways then eventually back to pasture when he has small sheds where the openings are only big enough for calves to get into.

 

[edmun2010]

slip an old hockey sock over their head/neck for a few days

 

[RyanChandler]

Calve later

How many June herd bulls have you bought?

What month a bull was born in has never once been a consideration when purchasing.  Never not once. The weather, on the other hand, is my sole determinant when deciding when to calve.  I calve in March, as the majority of inclimate weather is behind me by then.  Just seems silly to fight the weather when I can calve a little later and completely avoid the substantial risk you accrue when trying to calve in the dead of winter. 

 

[FriedgesCharolais]

Well i guess my opinion is that where I live(Northeast IA) you never know what the weather is going to be like (it could be cold, snowing, warm, raining) where as in January or Febuary you know its going to be cold and i feel a person can prepare for it a little better.

 

[Limiman12]

We calve mostly march April, and the last three years have had a harder time in forty degree and knee deep mud and rain with calves then we have had with the few we calves in jan and feb.....  Of course this year has been colder then most, but there is plenty of crappy weather in march......  As far as guys selling seed stock.    At sales I have been to, there is defiantly a premium for jan and feb bulls.    The guy we get bulls from cuts virtually everything born after April 1.  He says they don't sell except for extreme exceptions.....  Maybe month of birth of a young bull doesn't matter to you but it sure does to a lot of people.......l.  ESP if you are gonna be standing side by side with bulls three months and three hundred pounds heavier.    Hard for most people to compare......