Safe Calving Area

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

So, have you 2 pens on the right hand side of that right pillar also?

pen on the left is the calving pen as this is the side the cow goes into the crush gate. i use the gate to coral her in (or put a bucket of meal in front of her. I probably should get a semi auto gate (might look for one on DD). gate can also be used to project my self as its normally high enough to go over a calf on the ground.

the other side is just a normal star bed pen which can be accessed from the front or from the calving pen. depending on the what size i want it i can move the bales. normally i use it for cows and young calves until the calf are big enough to use the creep area. i can split it using a gate if needed.

i stitch the pallets to the bales with wire, saves having to use girders and digging up the floor. woks really well as it provides shelter and i can just roll a bale down for bedding.

I freeze beastings from random cows that are quiet and allow me to milk them by hand. Feed that to more difficult cows.

if you have a gate is the idea not to get them in the headstock before they calf?

Here its slide a loose gate between the cow and calf in the pen. The loose gate is held in place propped on the feeder at one end and hung on a post between the headlock and calving gate, creating a makeshift crush. put the calf in front of the calving gate headlock, and in she goes. Remove the loose gate and secure her with the section of the calving gate.

I will take some pics of my calving setup this week. I've high gates so you can swing them over calves to lock the mother back. Great when a calf isn't standing or needs a bottle. Also good for putting iodine on and when you need to tag.

I'm a bit similar to Blue. Have 2 calving pens if needed. All calves outside this year. Had to handle one but it was a matter of put the ropes on a give a pull by hand. Calving cows in sheds is something it try to avoid. Checking them a few times a day is key

Precalver is a must, but having exercise for the cow is the most important I feel. If see has loads of space and can use the lie of the land to sit comfortably and encourage the calf into the right position. Leads to a livelier calf and more inclined to suck. Perfect clean environment and a lot lot less scour. Lower cost and less time needed.

This years calving pen, was a portion of a wet paddock fenced off with a few strip wires. Stagger the wire in a zig zag fashion and move a stake or 2 every day. The paddock got 2 drains put into it now and quick till with a landleveller and chain harrow. Shake of grass seed and it better than the start of the year.

Secondly bull choice. Nothing of the extreme. Motto here is cow goes in calf easy, calves easy and rears calf easily. Use of some ai is great for heifers and breeding replacements. This helps to avoid sleepy dopey calves.

Would i do without a calving pen? Not in an asses roar. Handy for the time it's needed and safe. Keep the system simple is the motto. Cow has to do the work.

Bright side not a bale of straw used at calving

I calve them all out side too, in a little field between the house and yard, I can keep an eye on them from the kitchen window, stand at the back door and shine a light around the field at night, it is working well, they have a wee shed and yard to go into for silage or shelter, there. I calve from mid March unit till end of April for the bulk of them and then you ll end up for the few stragglers until June sometimes. There would be 5 /6 cows in the field at any time, it does get well dug up but the chain harrow and a bit of hayseed and it back to itself in a few weeks. We find cows are happier and calves are far healthier this way than before when we used to be trying to manage them in sheds. The stragglers are the ones that end up causing most trouble as you are busy with other things and you don't tend to keep as tight of an eye on them as you would when there is a few in the paddock.

No one setup will suit everyone, years ago we used to calve them outside because we had no shed, all well and good until you need a vet at 3am on a pissy cold night with muck and shite everywhere, and there will always be at least one every year.

Sorry i have'nt any new advice for the shed situation, i suppose a swinging gate hung high enough to clear a lying calf as already suggested is probably as good as it gets.

We’ve a gibney gate here, the local store ordered it for us, it’s 10ft & the smallest you can get

Has been a great investment, we’ve an extendable gate dividing 2 pens we use to help direct the cow into the headstock

Wonder what the machine up on the wall at the end of the crush is for. An electric winch from lidl above the c section gate is useful to have, to lift a big calf up in the air after removal from the side.

Possibly, maybe a manual geared pulley winch so.

Good setup. Only drawback I see is the bottom bars on the calving gate will prevent getting a calf in underneath properly to get it to suck.