Bad Weather for Calves?

[Tim Watson]

Horrible weather here. Pouring, windy and cold.
During last nights check our latest calf (three weeks old) was found on her own, head down, tail down looking very sorry for herself and not moving about much so we decided to bring her in.
Much happier this morning having benefited from a straw nest in the corner of the barn and a good feed from her cow.
The way the weather is looking for here this week we may end up keeping them in for the rest of the week as well.
Spent a while sat in the straw with them this morning to make sure she was otherwise OK.
Anyone else suffering with this?

[Rob R]

Not this year, but have had a case of it in the past with a very muddy calf dropped in a puddle by it's mother - I prefer a thrifty, self-reliant calf but sometimes, when circumstances conspire against them, you've just got to give them a helping hand.

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Tim's weather report sounds like we have nine tenths of the year, including much of the "summer" in recent years. Having said that I must confess we have had several weeks of lovely sun and blue sky, though some have been a bit cold. We are supposed to get rain this week, and to be honest I am needing it to keep water in fields for drinking.

Duncan

[domsmith]

we had at least 2 calves on the verge of hypothermia in april. needed a night under lamps and tubing. both went back out the next day and were taken back by their mums and are thriving. but since then they seem to be picking the nice days to calve.

we had about 24 born within 3 weeks of each other, then we have had 3 weeks of a gap then yesterday they started again very odd.

dominic

[Saffy]

Don't you remember the bull going on holiday Dom? .....Sounds like he probably needed a break!

[domsmith]

Well you know i dont remember him going anywhere. but my immediate neighbour is retiring so didnt put his bull out until october as he changed his mind.
he has had a calf or 2 and is very suprised...... i said not guilty but maybe i am

d

[davidw]

I had a heifer calve late Saturday/Sunday night in the middle of a downpour with the temperature at about 5°C. I give her great credit because instead of calving in the hedge bottom as normally happens, she went into the shed. So everyone – including me – kept fairly warm and dry. Must be the training I give them!!

[wagra dexters]

Early winter here, forty of ours are cut off. Culverts are deep under water, causeways are raging torrents, the river is an ocean. I was happy to count the correct number of heads through binoculars this morning. 6 week old autumn calves were racing around having a great time but their clever mothers were meandering their ways up to higher ground. Not really cold but worse to come so the weather man says!

[Saffy]

Your weather sound pretty interesting in Australia at the moment Margaret, glad all the stock are OK.

It is amazing how animals understand the weather and know what it is going to do - our daughter has a cat that is better at predicting the weather than the television forecast, she never asks to go out if there is any chance whatever of a drop of rain for the next 24 hours and when our herdwick sheep have new borns they will tuck them right into a thick bit of hedge if it is going to rain.

Perhaps the forecasters should take to observing animal behaviour, they might do better?!

Stephanie

[monica a waltho]

We have just had our sheep sheared as has our neighbour they lost two ewes with the rain and cold and we kept our tups penned up for a few days in the corner of our shed as they tend to fight after shearing they were standing shivering, the rest of our sheep kept pretty well to the hedge sides but luckily seem ok day before they were sheared it was that hot and humid and on checking them found 4 starting with maggots so was very relieved when we rung the shearer to say if we could get them in some where dry he would come because they thought they would be rained off where they were.
We still have our spring calvers who have been calved about a fortnight inside partily because I needed to dehorn them which we have done but the weather has changed so dont want to turn them out in this