Working Ranch Magazine March/April 2025

HOLD THE COWS CARDS BY GILDA V. BRYANT mineral tubs year-round to promote active, well-formed sperm. They also must have good legs and feet to travel during turnout. “Our calves stay healthy,” Miller concludes. “It goes back to the cow and her health. You need [to provide your cows and heifers with] a good mineral program, nutrition, and vac cination protocol. Follow it and stay with it while cows and heifers are pregnant and thereafter.” Jesse Fulton, Director of the Nebraska Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program, recommends beef pro ducers work closely with a veterinarian to have a Veterinary-Client-Patient Relationship (VCPR). The veterinarian should be familiar with the operation and the rancher’s goals. “The herd vet erinarian can help you set up a calving game plan for the calf’s best success and outcome,” Fulton explains. The BQA program recommends basic guidelines for calf care. For instance, most ranchers clean the calf’s navel with iodine and give a blackleg vaccination to prevent an acute, fatal infection from soil-dwell ing bacteria. Operators should also have several colostrum supplements

DISEASE RESISTANT

CALVES BEGIN WITH HEALTHY COWS, HEIFERS, AND BULLS.

CHIMNEY ROCK CATTLE COMPANY

he time to worry about calf health is three months before it is born. Disease resis tant calves begin with healthy cows, heifers, and bulls. Producers develop sound calves by feeding quality feedstuffs, year-round miner als, and providing appropriate vacci nations during the third trimester to cows and heifers. Planned care of each cow and heifer enables calves to reach their genetic potential. Derrick Miller, General Manager of Chimney Rock Cattle Company in northeastern Arkansas, raises com mercial, seedstock, Brangus and Ultra Black cattle. He believes Brangus is a good fit for his outfit because they have the strength and positive genetic traits of both Angus and Brahman breeds. The Chimney Rock Cattle Company has fall and spring calving herds. Cows and heifers receive a complete mineral program year-round to promote their health, timely breed back, and vigor ous calves. Pregnant cows and heifers receive two rounds of Modified Live Virus (MLV) vaccinations approved for pregnant animals to prevent Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR), Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) types one and two, Parainfluenza-3 (PI-3), Bovine Respiratory Syncytial

Virus (BRSV), and Blackleg. “We give our calves their first round of shots when they are 60-90 days old then a booster before wean ing. About four months after calves have been branded and weaned, we come back with [another round of blackleg and respiratory disease] vaccinations,” Miller reveals. “Later, when we preg check heifers for the first time, we give a vaccination to protect them from 13 respiratory and reproductive pathogens.” Miller also gives females a vaccine to prevent scours in calves. “We run reg istered cows as if they’re commercial cattle,” Miller explains. “We vaccinate all females on a strict health protocol, which carries over to the calves.” Older Brangus calves are creep-fed for about 45 days before weaning. “By the time they are weaned, they’ve had two rounds of shots,” Miller reveals. “They come straight off the cow, are weighed, and enter weaning lots to be fed. We deworm calves with an oral drench or place blocks in the creep bins to reduce the worm load as they graze on spring grass or cover crops.” In many operations, bulls stay in the last pasture on the place, mostly forgotten until right before turnout. The Chimney Rock bulls receive either a loose mineral or cooked molasses

40 I MARCH 2025 WORKING RANCH audited readers run 21 million head of beef cattle.