Ranch SmarterCalving season checklist: get ready before the first calf
What to have on hand, when to step in, and what every newborn calf needs — a practical checklist for calving season.
Calving season goes better when the work is done before the first calf hits the ground. Here’s a checklist to get ready, and a few rules of thumb for the season itself.
A month before: get the cows ready
- Body condition. Cows calving thin take longer to breed back. Aim for a body condition score of about 5 to 6 on the 1–9 scale at calving, and a little higher for first-calf heifers.
- Vaccines. Ask your veterinarian about pre-calving shots that help protect the calf through colostrum.
- A calving pasture. Clean, well-drained, close to the house, with somewhere to pen and work a cow.
Supplies to have on hand
| For the cow | For the calf |
|---|---|
| OB sleeves and lubricant | Iodine or navel dip |
| OB chains and handles | Colostrum or colostrum replacer |
| A calf puller you know how to use | Esophageal feeder (tube feeder) |
| Flashlight or headlamp | Towels, and a warm place for a cold calf |
| Your vet’s phone number where you can find it | Ear tags, tagger and a way to record each calf |
During calving: know when to step in
These are general rules of thumb. Your veterinarian’s advice comes first, and it’s always better to call early than late.
- Getting ready (stage 1): restless, tail up, off by herself. This can last a few hours — longer in heifers.
- Pushing (stage 2): once the water bag or feet show, a cow should make steady progress. If she’s been straining hard for about 30 minutes with no progress — or about an hour for a heifer — check her.
- Check the calf’s position. Two front feet with the soles down and a nose is normal. Feet soles-up, one leg, a tail, or a head with no feet needs help — call your vet if you’re not sure.
- Don’t pull hard on a calf that isn’t coming. A calf that’s too big or wrong needs a veterinarian.
Every newborn calf needs
- To breathe. Clear the nose and mouth. A straw in the nostril can help start breathing.
- Colostrum, and soon. A calf absorbs colostrum best in its first few hours. Make sure it nurses. A weak calf may need colostrum by bottle or tube feeder — ask your vet how much and how to tube safely.
- A dipped navel. Iodine on the navel helps keep infection out.
- A record. Date, dam, sex, calf tag, birth weight if you can, and how hard the birth was.
Keep the records — they decide next year
Calving records tell you which cows calve early and easy, which bulls throw big calves, and who to cull. Print our free calving record, or in Ranch Smarter snap the cow’s tag and tap Calved. Turn on the Calving watch alert and your phone tells you which cows are within two weeks of their due date.
Ranch smarter, not harder
Ranch Smarter puts your records, reminders and ranch math on your phone — and it works where there’s no signal.