The first 24 to 48 hours of a calf’s life can spell the difference between a calf that thrives and grows with minimal intervention on our part and a calf that always seems to be behind the eight ball, lagging behind its herdmates and requiring more care and treatment to keep it going.

As calving season progresses, we hear of miracle remedies that will get an unthrifty calf up to snuff in no time. Whether oral or injectable, it’s good to understand what the active ingredient in the “cocktail” is that may – or may not – give the calf a boost.

Wowk Ranch near Beauvallon, Alberta, specializes in breeding, training and selling high-quality horses of various breeds and runs 200 commercial cattle that they feed with a team in the winter.

Fall is a wonderful season for agriculture and a time to, hopefully, reap the bounty of the year’s production.

After a busy season of breeding, pulling bulls, pregnancy diagnosis and weaning, we’d like to hope cows can turn on autopilot for a few months during the winter. However, that’s not the case; cows are always working for us, whether that means lactating, raising a calf, preparing to become pregnant or gestating next year’s calf. It’s our responsibility to make sure they are in the proper body condition to do so.

Rumen health is the cornerstone of a successful cow-calf operation, impacting calf health, maternal performance, feed utilization and, ultimately, economic profitability.

How often has the calving book been lost or accidentally destroyed by the calf being warmed in the feeding pickup? Or when has information failed to be recorded toward the end of the calving season because our attention turns to other matters that time of year?

Cows that arrive on the farm with a high price tag have a tendency to be crowned as queens before they prove themselves in the system. Hopefully, they are worth that special treatment and they pay for themselves quickly, but it takes time to find out.

Young cows in the cow-calf operation are the genetic future of the herd and represent a large economic investment. Unfortunately, young cows leave the herd at a higher rate than other age categories.