Ranch Hand Top 10; February 2012
Top 10 management strategies to consider on your operation during February 2012:
- Prepare for calving: facilities, supplies, mental focus
- Feed cows at night to increase proportion of calves born during daylight hours
- Be sure to have plenty of high-quality feed, vitamins and minerals available; nutrient requirement dramatically increase after calving
- Ear tag calves and keep appropriate records, track any death loss; these records may be essential for receiving future disaster payments
- Develop standard operating procedures for treating sick calves with your veterinarian and have all medications on hand
- Catch and treat sick calves ASAP; they will respond better to treatment and perform better after recovery, compared with waiting until “later” to treat them
- Maintain clean, dry, wind-free areas for cows to calve on; castrate (and dehorn) calves as soon as possible if they are not breeding stock
- Attend bull sales with the bulls’ job description in hand; make all attempts to purchase bulls that will help you meet your herd goals and do not sacrifice quality
- Secure seed and fertilizer for planting in spring of 2012
- Complete tax preparation: deadlines are March 1 for most, April 15 if you made estimated tax payment by Jan. 15
