Hello. My name is Suzie Mae and I am a little Brangus heifer. When my Auntie Moonique said she had a blog, I asked her if I could have a blog also. She said I could write on her blog. So here I am. Today I would like to remind everyone how important low stress weaning is for us calves. Remember we are being separated from our mamas for the very first time and that is very stressful. We feel like the world is coming to an end. But you can make us feel better by following one of the following low stress weaning practices: 1) fenceline weaning; 2) use of nose flaps; and 3) corral weaning. This will not only keep us happy, but healthy as well.
Duck Weather
I know I shouldn’t complain, not after last year’s drought when all you could hardly find a decent blade of green grass, but, cow bells, I wish this rain would stop! I feel like my hooves are ready to grow webs between my toes. Fortunately, our pasture drains well so we aren’t all standing in the mud up to our ankles. Remember what I told you about having healthy hooves? And you also have to be careful about foot rot. That nasty little fungus that gets between your toes and causes your skin to blister and bleed. Ugh! The temperature has cooled down, though, for which I am grateful. For even though I am a Brangus and bred for warm and humid climates, a fresh breeze is always welcome.
Hoof Health
I know the name of my blog is “The Daily Moos”, but we have had some rough weather lately, and I had other things on my mind, as you can well imagine, or not. Today I want to remind everyone the importance of healthy hooves. I know the saying goes “No hoof, no horse”, but that goes for bovines as well. Lameness has all kinds of bad consequences: weight loss, joint infections, founder, only to name a few. The best thing is prevention: keep your pasture free of junk, don’t leave us standing in muddy contaminated soil, and if we do show signs of lameness, please take care of it sooner rather than later. Happy cattle make happy ranchers.
Raising Healthy Calves
Hello. Mah name is LuluBelle and Ah am a very good friend of Moonique. And when she told me about this blawg of hers Ah told her Ah just had to pahrticipate. So here Ah am: pahrticipating, ’cause Ah told her what do humans know about us bowvines anyway? What do they know about raising healthy calves, and all? Do they know about calf scours, and Bowvine Vahral Diahrrhea, and the importance of colostrum? My friend Moonique says many of them do, like our caretakers, but Ah say many of them don’t, and we should tell them about these things if we expect to be cared for as we should be. But listen to me ramblin’ on like an old cow who has lost her mahnd. Ah just wanted to tell y’all that Ah will pahrticipating in this here blawg along with my friend Moonique so expect to hear from me again, from time to time, when mah duties permit. Ah need to leave now. Ah am in charge of the nursery this week. Bye!
Shoo Fly, don’t bother me!
Along with Spring and Summer, the heat, the rain and the humidity, come THE FLIES! No matter where you go, they’re there, sticking to you like Velcro and sucking your blood. Did you know that a cow can lose approximatly a half a pound daily because of Horn Flies and Face Flies that not only interfere with feeding (how’d you like to sit down to your dinner table and eat with flies biting you?), but also cause eye irritations and Pink Eye?
Here on the ranch, our caretakers use several different methods for fly control: pour-on, ear tags and oral larvacides. Not too fond of the larvacides, but ear tags can be quite fashionable. I prefer pink, myself. Don’t you?
Summer Heat Stress
Well, Summer is almost here, and down here in Southern Texas we’re already feeling the heat. Being Brangus, I’m lucky that my Brahman blood helps me tolerate the hot humid weather better than some breeds, but that does not preclude my caretakers from taking the appropriate steps to make sure we do not suffer from summer heat stress, especially the little ones. So what have they done? A) Made sure we had plenty of fresh water; B) gave us a nice large tank (pond for your northeners) so we can soak and cool off; C) provided plenty of shade. The weanling calves really have it good since they live at the North Pasture which is mostly shaded and gets enough of a breeze to keep the temperature down.
So, today’s lesson: keep y’alls cattle cool this summer and we’ll reward you with some nice babies come Spring.
Water Quality: Vital
Did ya’ll know that not all water is equal? There is water and then there is Water. I cannot stress enough the importance of good quality water to promote the good health of a herd. Ya’ll humans don’t drink dirty water and expect to stay healthy, so why do you think it’s OK for us bovines to do so?Just for your information, we bovines drink about 3 times as much water as we do grass or hay, and we die very quickly without it.
So what do ya’ll ranchers need to look out for in your water? Sulphates. High levels of sulphur can affect us in 3 ways: a) by reducing the amount of feed or grass we eat; b) sulphur toxicity can cause neurological problems; and c) sulphur interferes with the availability of copper that can lead to trace mineral deficiency.
So, ranchers, my advice to you is “Test your water sources” if ya’ll want to keep your herds healthy.
Fat in the Diet
Did you know that fat in the diet is good? Well, at least for us pregnant bovines it is. It seems that feeding us the correct amount of fat during our pregnancy allows our little developing calf to gain fatty tissue surrounding its little internal organs which will help it cope with “cold stress” after being born on a cold winter’s day. A colf’s ability to cope with cold, for those of us living in the colder climates, can mean the difference between surviving or dying.
No , mind you, ya’ll ranchers need to know when and how much to feed us ’cause you do not want us to blow up like big balloons. I know of one rancher in Montana who starts feeding soybean meal 45 days before calving, stopping once the calf is born. The result: 14% to 15% increase in 1st conception rate. Now that’s something to mooo about!
BVD-PI Testing
Have you ever heard of “BVD-PI”? It stands for Bovine Viral Diarrhea-Persistent Infection, and can be devastating in a herd since not only is it fatal for a calf, but that calf can spread it to the rest of the herd. Who do you test? All calves whether born alive. aborted, or purchased; all cows whether pregnant or open, and especially those with a BVD-PI positive calf; all bulls. In fact, your whole herd should be tested. An ear notch sample is the best since it will not contain any maternal antibodies, can be tested by multiple methods, and can be shipped “dry” to the lab.
Controlling parasites
With the summer almost here, it is important for all you cattle owners to remember to protect us bovines against internal parasites, especially our calves, they being the most susceptible. Parasite control makes sense (as well as dollars and cents). Not adequately controlling parasites can wreak havoc in a herd and very quickly affect your pocketbook. Here are a few points you should remember:
- Parasites are a problem even with an aggressive parasite control program
- Calves are the most susceptible
- No treatment is fool-proof. Remember: parasites develop resistance.
- Treatment timing is essential
- Drought or excessive rain will increase parasite problem