Back to Basics

Calving heifers: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

by Ron Torell, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension livestock specialist

Most of our first-calf heifer stories are similar in nature, whether we calve out one heifer or 700. Take, for example, the breached deliveries, the 95-pound (lb.) calves out of "calving ease sires," or the pinched sciatic nerves and paralyzed heifers. There is always the story of the wild heifer that tore up the barn and mucked out the help, the swollen noses and tongues, and the slow-to-get-up and hypothermic calves. And let's not forget the stories of poor mothering ability. Perhaps the most common calving story is the one involving sleep deprivation on the caretaker's part.

In this month's edition of "Back to Basics," let's interview a few Northeastern Nevada owners/managers of large cow-calf operations. They advise an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Let's hear what that ounce of prevention is. In an accompanying story, "Cowboy Midwives: Tips from the Pros," let's interview veteran midwife cowboys who calve out hundreds of heifers per year on these large Nevada cow-calf operations.

Jon Griggs, manager of Maggie Creek Ranches of Elko, Nev., oversees the selection, development and calving of 500 English-bred replacement heifers per year. Griggs says calving problems with first-calf heifers can never be eliminated, but they can be held at bay through proper selection, development and breeding.

"We initially keep 20% more heifers than we need, applying selection pressure at three separate times: weaning, development and breeding," he explains. "We feel identifying and eliminating problem heifers up front is the way to go. Factors such as poor doers, disposition, fertility, pelvic area, these are all reasons for us to send her down the road prior to breeding."

Dan Gralian, manager of TS Ranches of Battle Mountain, Nev., agrees with Griggs relative to selection pressure up front and feels the next crucial element in reducing calving difficulties in first-calf heifers is proper development.

Tim Draper of the TS Ranch in Battle Mountain, Nev., oversees the calving of more than 700 first-calf heifers each year. He subscribes to the philosophy "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

"The TS Ranch develops approximately 700 replacement heifers each year," he says. "I know that many ranchers now prescribe to the new trend of low-cost heifer development, but we are very fortunate to have the feed source and facility to develop our replacement heifers to 65% to 70% of mature weight [by breeding]. This gives us a 1,000-pound (lb.) heifer at calving. We believe that a properly developed heifer will breed up early, have less calving difficulty, breed back quickly and stay in the herd longer. We consider heifer development a sound investment in our cow herd production."

He goes on to say, "Another prime factor in reducing calving difficulty is good heifer-bull selection. We look for low-birth-weight bulls that still have acceptable growth and maternal traits. Many of our future replacements are out of first-calf heifers."

Ed, Mike and Paul Sarman, owners/managers of Lee Livestock of Lamoille, Nev., subscribe to all the above and suggest incorporating synchronization and artificial insemination (AI) to high-accuracy calving-ease sires to the list.

Pictured are the new hires on the TS Ranch. These bulls went to work in spring 2009, so their offspring will be delivering as you read this article. Dan Gralian, manager of TS Ranch of Battle Mountain, Nev., searches hard to find quality calving-ease bulls.

"Using high-accuracy calving-ease-direct (CED) AI sires does not eliminate problems, but it sure minimizes them," state the Sarman brothers. "We breed our heifers to calve one heat cycle prior to our mature cows and only leave quality calving-ease cleanup bulls in for 35 days. This allows us to concentrate our efforts on calving heifers for a short period of time, and then we can turn our attention to the mature cows and other spring work."

Griggs agrees with the Sarman brothers and relates his experiences with natural breeding vs. utilizing high-accuracy AI calving-ease-direct bulls.

"Before we initiated an AI program, we were assisting 25% of our heifers at calving time. For the past 10 years, utilizing high-accuracy AI calving-ease sires, our assistance rate has held steady at 8%. When you are calving 500 heifers in a 45-day period, you do not have time to wipe the nose off every calf. Utilizing these high-accuracy bulls allows us to get the job done with less labor," Griggs concludes.

Matt McKinney, manager of Bently AgroDynamics livestock operations in Garnerville, Nev., agrees with Griggs and the Sarmans relative to AI breeding of heifers. McKinney also recognizes the importance of maintaining a tight calving interval of 45 days or less. McKinney subscribes to the "bred-right, fed-right" theory.

"It all comes down to a sound genetic package that is handled and developed properly, bred to a calving-ease sire (preferably a high-accuracy AI sire), and calving in a short calving interval. To clinch the deal, heifers need to be fed an adequate pre- and postpartum ration. Following this recipe has decreased our assistance rate to 5%. It makes life a lot easier at calving time," McKinney concludes.

There is a misconception that if you synchronize and AI heifers during a five-day period that all these calves will be born in a five-day period 283 days later. The feeling is that you will be overwhelmed at calving time. This is not the case, says Alan Sharp of Ruby Valley, Nev. "Generally we get a 65% to 70% conception rate to first-service synchronized AI. Most if not all of these high-accuracy calving-ease sires are short-gestation bulls that start calving 16 days before their due date. Calving continues up to their textbook 283 gestation due date. Our AI calves are spread out over a 12- to 16-day interval. This allows us to concentrate our labor during this time period and get it over with," Sharp concludes.

John Jackson of the Petan Ranch, which is located in northern Elko County, Nev., favors calving at 3 years of age unassisted in the brush.

"We have the ability to keep these heifers "bull free" for the first two years of life. This allows us to slowly develop heifers to reach target breeding weight over a two-year period. We can do this much cheaper on standing winter and summer range forage. Allowing that extra year to grow and mature reproductively, we feel we make better range cows. We used to lose a lot of cows on the second or third conceptions. That is not the case now for our second and third conception fallout has decreased. Our weaning percentage actually increased with 3-year-old calving. Life sure is simpler this way."

As always, if you would like to discuss this article or simply would like to talk cows, do not hesitate to contact me at 775-738-1721 or torellr@unce.unr.edu.

Cowboy Midwives: Tips from the Pros
"In many respects, calving large numbers of heifers in a short timeframe is easier than just a handful over a longer period." This is a quote shared by Greg Snow, Maggie Ranches of Elko, Nev.; Tim Draper, TS Ranch, Battle Mountain, Nev.; Brian Hansen, Bently AgroDynamics of Gardnerville, Nev.; Lanny Morrison, Sharp Ranches, Ruby Valley, Nev.; and Sarman Bros., Lamoille, Nev. Collectively, these individuals oversee the calving operations of several of the larger ranching operations in the West, calving more than 2,000 heifers per year. All of the above "cowboy midwives" prefaced their approval of the above quote with the advice given in the main article: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. They follow that advice in the development and breeding phases of the heifers with which they are entrusted.

It is the author's observation that ranches that calve these large numbers of heifers have several things in common, such as quality labor and superior facilities. The individuals entrusted to calve these large numbers of heifers, from the manager to the night watchman, are all experienced, capable and educated people. These individuals have expertise on horseback, on the ground and in the calving barn. They all subscribe to low-stress handling of livestock. All recognize the stages of parturition, when a heifer needs assistance and, more importantly, when she does not. Most operations have staff capable of performing C-sections and the necessary equipment on hand to do so. The operations mentioned in this article are equipped with proper facilities and supplies to handle any situation that may arise. For the smaller operations, this is not always the case.

Another advantage brought up and mutually agreed upon by the cowboy midwives is the economy of size.

"Calving this many heifers at a time justifies having quality labor to watch 24/7," say the Sarman brothers. "When my shift is up I can go home and get a good night's sleep. I know things are covered at the calving barn and in capable hands. Many years the wreck comes when we are to the end of the calving, with just a few stragglers left. This is when the cleanup bulls or the neighbor's visiting growth bull was at work. We can no longer justify close observation of the heifers."

"You cannot let things get ahead of you when calving large numbers of heifers," says Lanny Morrison. "We try to stay current on moving pairs out of the maternity field and into the pair field. We make sure the mothering instinct has kicked in, the calf has sucked well and received adequate colostrum. It is important to give the pair time to bond before disturbing them. Moving the pair to clean ground and more space is the wise thing to do. Our pair field has willows and brush for natural shelter."

Tim Draper agrees with Morrison and goes on to say he prefers to calve in the brush where it is clean and natural.

"Occasionally we have a problem heifer we have to run through the barn," he says. "I prefer not to, though. Our heifers are raised under range conditions. They see men [on] horseback all the time, but seldom men on foot. These heifers have never seen the inside of a barn. When we put a heifer in a jug, generally she goes ballistic. She paces the pen for two hours before she settles down and proceeds to that next stage of labor. When calving in the brush, the heifer is more at ease and Mother Nature is allowed to take its course. Additionally, we cannot make the barn as sanitary as the brush."

Brian Hansen seconds Draper's calving in the brush philosophy and agrees with Morrison in moving pairs from the maternity brush field frequently. "We do not check at night any more. We ride through the maternity bunch four to five times a day, moving pairs to a new clean and brushy location. This teaches the calves to mother up and step out with Mom. It makes it easier to spot heifers that have not calved yet. It reduces exposure of young calves to older calves and it allows us to take a good close look at each pair. It also provides an excellent opportunity to give a colt experience."

"We have all been through the wrecks," Snow says. "One bad bull selection and you are into large calves, dystocias, c-sections, and a high assistance rate. When 30 to 40 heifers are calving per day you do not have the time to wipe the noses of these calves. You need relatively trouble-free cows, good help, good facilities and plenty of supplies on hand. More importantly, management needs to have subscribed to the "An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure" theory and set my crew up with adequately developed, bred and fed heifers."

Veterinarian Boyd Spratling assists many of the operations mentioned in this article and often performs training sessions and refresher courses for the cowboy midwives quoted. "These are very capable people involved in the day-to-day operation of these larger ranches," Spratling says. "I have always been impressed at their ability to handle any emergency that comes along. From an animal health standpoint the adage "An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure" certainly applies when calving heifers. Patience is the other virtue that needs to be exercised when calving heifers."

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