Calving Concerns

For many ranchers, calving 2025 is well under with calves hitting the ground for weeks now.  Our operation is waiting with great anticipation for the first few early calvers to get things started here.  

Over the last years, we have opted to push back our calving more into the spring months.  The greatest motivation- hoping to avoid the colder winter weeks, although Idaho winters are rarely constrained to the official winter months.   

As much as we would like to control Mother Nature and the weather during our calving season, we know that the cold is inevitable and for some stretch of time each year, we will have to battle the elements to keep our newest calves thriving.  Before the calves even start dropping or the temperature gauge drops, we try to be proactive to stay ahead of the challenge we could face.

For the most part cattle do well to maintain their body temperature and remain unaffected by cold weather.  Calves however, especially newborn calves, are a different story.  Cattle’s unique hide will keep them warm in even the coldest of temperatures so long as they are dry.  The thick hairs help trap in warm air and insultates them against the cold.  But when cattle become wet, those air pockets are destroyed and they lose their insulation.

Naturally, calves are born wet and will struggle to maintain their body temperature if the temperatures are too low.  In addition, their body mass to surface area is quite small, meaning they can give off a lot of heat without having capabilities to keep warm.  As their circulatory system is just beginning to sustain itself alone, it is unable to quickly respond in comparison to more mature calves.

From their first moments of life, newborn calves are behind in their fight against the cold weather.  Knowing this, farmers and ranchers prepare for the season in a number of ways to help keep their calves warm and dry.  Depending on their location, facilities and practices each operation will have their go to tricks and patterns to thrive in each calving season.

For many, they simply battle the cold by bringing each cow inside the calving barn to birth.  This all but eliminates facing the wind, snow, rain and extreme cold all together.  For some, this sort of practice isn’t feasible and is more of a wish than a necessity.

In most instances, putting up windbreaks is far more possible.  Whether it is a break built as a part of a fence, set up by stacked straw bales or each pushed up dirt mounds, anything to give cattle some sort of reprieve from the wind will be a benefit.

The cold ground, snow, or ice can quickly zap the body heat of a newborn or young calf.  Putting out straw or other bedding will provide a barrier to insulate them against the cold ground and maintain their heat.

A warm belly full of milk will, of course, help a calf stay warm from the inside out.  Helping a calf get up and nursing from their mother not long after being born is critical to helping them thrive in the cold.  Doing so helps them create heat as they move their body, receive the crucial colostrum and nutrients they need and provide the obvious warmth from the milk.

There are times that farmers and ranchers step in to help a calf that can’t quite maintain their body heat.  Calves that aren’t alert, won’t get up to nurse, and have cold extremities or mouths are beginning to suffer from hypothermia.  Most of the time, putting the calves into a small warmer or even floorboard of a truck is enough to bring their temperature back up.  

Calving in the winter can be hard, but farmers and ranchers have learned to hope for the best and plan for the worst.  Instead of waiting for the bad to happen, they try to be prepared and proactive to give their calves the best chance possible.  And then they watch and hope and pray that we can make up the difference when it just isn’t enough.