Raising CaLves

The mama’s do all the hard work for the most part, we step in if a cow is unwilling or unable to care for her calf. Thankfully that is something that does not happen terribly often. Here at Tilly Hawk we allow our heifers to be reproductively mature prior to breeding we have found this has been helpful in supporting calving ease. In fact the first bottle baby we raised together was our little Norma Jean. If it’s a case where intervention is needed we bring them into the barn and they are bottle raised and either retained as potential replacement heifers, steers are kept for finishing and others are sold at the market if they don’t fit our operational needs. A typical scenario see’s them raised with their mama’s until about 6 months of age. During that time the bull calves are castrated they all receive their vaccinations and deworming. At the 6 month mark they are moved to our weaning pasture where they are allowed to adjust to life on their own and started on a preconditioning ration ensuring their rumen is as healthy as possible. After weening the replacement heifers will be put out to pasture until they are ready for breeding and steers will be moved to begin their growing/finishing program.