Combined fall working of my small Hereford herd and weaning yesterday - learned a few lessons too.

Vet came over and together we worked the herd, ran them all through the alley and chute, weighed everyone, booster shot vaccinations & deworm for those not being processed in the next few weeks. A few replacement heifers got their Bang's vac. We weaned them by directing the calves to a different field as they exited the chute and headgate. The cows circulated back into a holding pen until we were done.

I have a bull with the herd full time and have seen no signs of heat in any of them since the end of August or thereabouts. I really questioned taking the additional time to preg check the cows...(I knew they were all pregnant!). However, after discussing it with my vet we also preg checked.

We found one of the first calf cows (or is it heifer?) that has a very nice calf this year and has been exposed to a bull continuously since early July was OPEN! I asked the vet if he was sure, at which time he looked at me and said he has been doing this for many years and she was really open... I really felt dumb. He is a wonderful, experienced, large-animal vet with his own beef herd and I am a beginner...stupid question! He said at 80-110 days pregnant like the others he should be able to tell pretty clearly. Says he can usually tell after 30-35 days.

So we circulated back one of the other first-calf cows that I was going to process for other reasons, preg checked her and she was 90 days. She then got booster and pour-on and won't be rib eyes after all!

Finding just one open out of the bunch is not too bad statistically but very expensive feeding an open cow over the winter in the north while a pregnant one goes for hamburger! Finding one open paid for the additional cost of ALL of the preg checks many times over. Lesson learned: always preg check.

Looking over the weight data it is also striking how much stress nursing a big calf puts on a cow. The age-adjusted 205 day weaning weight average was just under 600 lb for the group. Weaned them by putting each group in adjacent pastures with a good 5 wire barb + electric fence between them. Later in the afternoon it looked like visiting hours at the jail with cows and calves lined up nose to nose on opposite sides of the gates...not all that noisy though.

Definition of stress: What occurs when you have 10 minutes before the vet arrives, working by yourself and still trying to get that last hesitant cow into the corral. You KNOW when he pulls his truck into the pasture any not in the corral will head for the 4 corners of the earth at warp speed! I feel lucky to have such a good vet - and fortunately he usually runs about 10 minutes late. Interesting day.

Jim at Dawn