Calving in the Cold

Mother Nature seems to be confused about the seasons in North Dakota these days. As Tom mention...  More »

Mother Nature seems to be confused about the seasons in North Dakota these days. As Tom mentioned a moment ago, snow is expected across much of the state tonight and tomorrow. While the weather may be an inconvenience to some of us, it's making the lives of ranchers and their cattle down-right difficult. Shaun Sipma is explains... Spring calving is supposed to be lot different than this in North Dakota. (John Dhuyvetter, NDSU Livestock Specialist) Usually our concern this time of year is not hypothermia or chilling calves so much as that they're in a damp environment conducive to bacteria and pathogen growth. Typically temperatures range from highs in the mid 40's during the day to lows in the 20s at night. This year we're barely breaking above freezing during daylight hours and dipping into the single digits to the teens and night and it's taking its toll on calving herds. (Lee Novak, Ranches SW of Minot) It's taking a lot of extra effort, lot more checking at night and during the day. (John Dhuyvetter, NDSU Livestock Specialist) Most the guys who wait to calve late in April are hoping the lows are in the 20s and the highs are in the 40s and they don't have to worry about hypothermia and frost damage to calves. But that's exactly what ranches are worried about right now. (Novak) We usually calve on pasture ground. Now we're bedding quite a bit, bringing the cows back into the lots, trying to keep the ears and tails on them as much as possible. (Dhuyvetter) If we get a calf that's chilled, on cold ground and out in the wind with these temperatures it's not likely to get up and nurse, just get chilled and hunker down then we set him up for lots of other problems. Problems like frozen, ears, frozen tails and sometimes even a calf that doesn't make it. Ranchers like Novak are forced to put out more straw for bedding to keep calves warm, straw that they would normally be feeding to the herd. The colder weather is also putting stress on the animals which requires more feed to keep the heard healthy. The only answer is warmer weather which looks to be Thursday of this week at the earliest. South of Minot, Shaun Sipma KX News. Dhuyvetter says even with the colder weather and the extra stress on animals so far most herds are healthy coming into a late spring warm up.  « Less