Eileen McElroy-Clayton’s house still looks like a barn as she and her
husband Warren Clayton wind down calving at their Calgary area ranch.
They worked around the clock to save calves when record low
temperatures in March and early April plunged Alberta and Saskatchewan
into a deep freeze.
“There were three nights of Ð20 F,” she said.
“It’s the worst that I’ve experienced.”
They brought hypothermic calves into the house and placed them in a
bathtub of warm water to take off the chill.
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Many ranches did not have heated sheds and people were forced to carry
shivering, wet newborns into their houses, pickups or any other warm
spots they could find in the middle of the night.
“We didn’t lose any to freezing, but we had a tremendous number that
came down with scours afterwards,” McElroy-Clayton said.
Calving became such an exhausting ordeal she worried they might become
ill themselves and unable to care for their cows.
They were so immersed in saving calves during this mean streak of
weather that her mother brought them casseroles because there was no
time to cook a proper family meal.
Dave Foat of Carstairs, Alta., had an equally grueling experience.
“We weren’t prepared for this kind of weather. We didn’t have the
barns,” he said.
His family operation calved out more than 300 head. Foat had thought
his cows would deliver in late March and April, but calves started
coming early as the temperature dropped.
Now the stressed calves are sick. Scours, pneumonia and selenium
deficiency are particular problems.
The coldest temperature on Foat’s ranch was – 36 C, worsened by cruel,
north winds.
Calves born in those conditions started to lose their strength within
20 minutes if left unattended. There was no let up for three weeks as
Foat’s ranch turned into an
“Arctic calving factory.”
“It can’t happen again or I’ll never have hired help again,” he said.
Foat’s family, the hired man and his wife worked round the clock to
retrieve calves numbed by the cold.
Rancher and retired veterinarian Bill Newton of Fort Macleod, Alta.,
said this spring was enough to make many rethink their calving plans
for next year. Later calving dates that extend into late spring or even
fall are being considered to avoid another miserable spring session.
“Most of us calve on pasture and expect them to get up running,” he
said.
The weather also took its toll in Saskatchewan. Deaths appear to be
low, but some calves froze their ears, said Jim Graham, Saskatchewan
Agriculture livestock specialist at Swift Current.
Cows were also under stress.
“Feed has been so expensive and in such short supply, cows that were
borderline condition-wise gave fellows some trouble,” he said.
While there are no fixed numbers on deaths, the effects of this spring
continue to plague producers.
Russ Horvey, a livestock specialist with Alberta Agriculture, said
frozen ears, tails and feet were common. A frozen foot is sensitive and
could grow out like a club foot, making it impossible for calves to
walk properly, he added.
Animals with frozen ears and tails bring less money at fall feeder
sales because buyers think it means the animals are weak and may not do
well in the feedlot.
“Buyers will err on the side that they are poor doers,” Horvey said.
Secondary problems are also emerging.
Calves that were pulled off cows to warm them up may not have received
enough immune-building colostrum.
In some cases, first-calf heifers did not recognize their calves when
they were returned and did not mother them properly, Horvey said.
Selenium deficiencies are also appearing, partly because of last
summer’s drought when feed was of poor quality in an already
selenium-deficient area.
More people were feeding straw, so pregnant cows may not have received
enough mineral and protein supplements. Poor nutrition shows up in
weaker calves, so nutrition must be improved this spring to build
immunity.
