First Baby of 2010


Her name will be Blythes Georgina 0401.  Okay, so it wasn't the very first baby born in the new year, and it wasn't even human! But it was the first baby calf born on our Kansas cattle ranch this year.  She is a heifer born to a heifer. She has a bright and clean ear tag in her ear, she was weighed within minutes after her birth and her navel was treated with disinfectant to combat infection in the muddy weather we are having.

Prior to calving season, I spend a few hours on the computer projecting when each calf will be born.  A cow's gestation is similar to a human's in length.  It takes about 285 to 283 days for the average gestation length for a cow.  An Angus cow usually has a shorter gestation and larger breeds often have a day or more longer gestation.  We also know that heifers (2 year old cows who have never had a calf) usually calve up to 2 weeks early. That may be due to their genetic makeup or the bull's.  We select bulls for low birth weight to breed our heifers, and low birth weight bulls usually have a shorter gestation length.  So determining the date a heifer or cow will calve is basically math and science!

So we were ready for this baby! The bulk of our cows and heifers are due to calve starting January 25. That is next Monday.  Unfortunately this winter is a wet, foggy, muddy mess--the aftermath of the big Christmas snow storm that brought snow drifts up to 6 feet tall in places! So we have put the heifers in a small pasture of medium height grass to provide some cover from the weather, but not so much that we are not able to find the new babies.


We raise registered Angus cattle, as well as crossbred cattle. We collect a lot of information on the registered purebred Angus; we must take a birth weight on every calf within hours after they are born.  We also take weights throughout their life, to document their growth patterns and final mature weight.  Those traits are highly heritable and are passed down through generations.  Depending on your farm plan, you may want fast growing, early maturing cattle, or possibly the slower growing, later maturing cattle. It just depends on what you need them to do.

This little heifer has an awesome life ahead of her on our ranch.  She will grow for about 3 months with her mama before we administer vaccinations and breed the cows for next year's calf. Then around May 1, pasture season starts in the Flint Hills of Kansas and we will take the cow herd with their calves to the highly nutritious native grass pastures to grow until about October 1.  At that time, we will wean the calves and select the heifer calves we want to keep and the ones we want to sell.  We'll select the bulls to raise to sell or use on our ranch and the ones we will steer to take to a feedlot to create the Certified Angus Beef steaks that so many people love!


Throughout their lives, our calves are cared for to ensure their health and ability to grow with minimal interference.  We are very proud of our cows and their calves and invite anyone to come see them. At right, you can see that the entire group of first calf heifers is pretty interested in this little gal, too! Her mama is the proud one with her head up, looking at the camera...she seems to be smiling, doesn't she?

6 comments:

  1. SOOOOOO Stinkin cute!!! We have red angus and ours will be starting to calve any day. We calve out all the heffers on our part of the ranch and then we go and help calve out the cows after that. I love calving season for all the cute litte babies:)

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  2. I love looking at calves.They look so cute!

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  3. This really is a great post! I think it will teach a lot of people how most of our cattle comes from small family run ranches! And how cute is that little one? Goodness!

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  4. Hello from another lady Angus breeder in the Strathbogie Ranges in Victoria Australia.Our first calves this year were born in the searing summer heat of early January when the grass is dry and brown and you pray for summer rain to keep the creeks flowing and the dams full. I worry that black snakes which live in the rushes near our water holes will bite these inquisitive babes on their muzzels but all is ok todate. The rest of the herd is due to calve in March, our Autumn, when hopefully it will be cooler. We have just sold off our weaner steers but are hanging on to the "girls". We have around 200 breeder Mums plus bulls, then maiden heifers who all have to cope with 100 degree plus summer heat and light snow in winter. For a look at our calves see 'EagleWood Park at Creightons Creek' if you do a Google Australia search.we are about 2hours drive north of Melbourne. loved your web site, happy calving, Alexandra Handley

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  5. Hello from another lady Angus breeder in the Strathbogie Ranges in Victoria Australia.Our first calves this year were born in the searing summer heat of early January when the grass is dry and brown and you pray for summer rain to keep the creeks flowing and the dams full. I worry that black snakes which live in the rushes near our water holes will bite these inquisitive babes on their muzzels but all is ok todate. The rest of the herd is due to calve in March, our Autumn, when hopefully it will be cooler. We have just sold off our weaner steers but are hanging on to the "girls". We have around 200 breeder Mums plus bulls, then maiden heifers who all have to cope with 100 degree plus summer heat and light snow in winter. For a look at our calves see 'EagleWood Park at Creightons Creek' if you do a Google Australia search.we are about 2hours drive north of Melbourne. loved your web site, happy calving, Alexandra Handley

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  6. I just joined your blog. We too watch our cattle very close and we have a lot of heifer's calving right now. So far, so good but am waiting for our Baby O to have hers. I am worried about her, she looks awfully big so I am anxiously waiting. I loved the blog of the birth. I have witnessed this too. It's a miracle for sure. I hope you will stop by my blog and join.

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