Night feeding for day calving

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There is quite a few articles floating around these days on the internet about it.
Lots of comments that it works for others as well.
There’s a few that slip threw but for the most part we have great success with it.
 
We don't have but a couple calves born each year. We've also been fortunate that each has been during the day time. Cows have access to the hay 24/7 but we do supplement twice a day too at about 6 am then again at 5 pm. After reading this article maybe the feeding schedule helps?

I wonder if this would pertain to goats. . . ? They are pretty much on the same feeding schedule. I rarely have them kid during the night hours.
 
buildit said:
So if you just let them eat all the time would they never calve? LOL I know that is bad dairy science humor...... :facepalm:
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What goes in has to come out! Somehow and sometime! Lol
funny-face.jpg
 
@buildit dId you get rained out today. It hasn't rained here for almost 6 hours. The Tennessee River is almost to the back part of our property! I'll go take a picture from my deer stand later.
 
gumpy said:
@buildit dId you get rained out today. It hasn't rained here for almost 6 hours. The Tennessee River is almost to the back part of our property! I'll go take a picture from my deer stand later.
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Not rain but lots of fog so I just went back to sleep till 8am. LOL
 
Dani said:
We don't have but a couple calves born each year. We've also been fortunate that each has been during the day time. Cows have access to the hay 24/7 but we do supplement twice a day too at about 6 am then again at 5 pm. After reading this article maybe the feeding schedule helps?

I wonder if this would pertain to goats. . . ? They are pretty much on the same feeding schedule. I rarely have them kid during the night hours.
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That is very Interesting! I may have to start trying this on the sheep and see as well! I bet it does!
We’ve just done it on the cows but now thinking back we fed the goats at night and they always delivered during the day..... hmmmmm!
 
I have 2 Jerseys and a Belted Galloway cow that are due to calve, 1 any minute now and the other two in days and a few weeks. I have them separated out from the rest of the herd, and have observed that they eat a bit in the morning after being released from overnighting in box stalls and feed heavily for a few hours in the evening before going back into the barn around 9pm. I have been giving a supplemental feed to get them into the barn, and into their respective box stalls efficiently as well as add kelp to their diet which I personally believe helps ward off milk fever. I believe it may already be in their nature to eat more in the evenings, which may explain why most of my calves are born around 2-4pm. Having just said that, I guess I can expect something entirely different this year.
 
ClemKadiddlehopper said:
I have 2 Jerseys and a Belted Galloway cow that are due to calve, 1 any minute now and the other two in days and a few weeks. I have them separated out from the rest of the herd, and have observed that they eat a bit in the morning after being released from overnighting in box stalls and feed heavily for a few hours in the evening before going back into the barn around 9pm. I have been giving a supplemental feed to get them into the barn, and into their respective box stalls efficiently as well as add kelp to their diet which I personally believe helps ward off milk fever. I believe it may already be in their nature to eat more in the evenings, which may explain why most of my calves are born around 2-4pm. Having just said that, I guess I can expect something entirely different this year.
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You can't outguess Mother Nature sometimes!
 
ClemKadiddlehopper said:
I have 2 Jerseys and a Belted Galloway cow that are due to calve, 1 any minute now and the other two in days and a few weeks. I have them separated out from the rest of the herd, and have observed that they eat a bit in the morning after being released from overnighting in box stalls and feed heavily for a few hours in the evening before going back into the barn around 9pm. I have been giving a supplemental feed to get them into the barn, and into their respective box stalls efficiently as well as add kelp to their diet which I personally believe helps ward off milk fever. I believe it may already be in their nature to eat more in the evenings, which may explain why most of my calves are born around 2-4pm. Having just said that, I guess I can expect something entirely different this year.
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Well things are right on schedule. NOT. The Jersey due 2 days ago and looking like a blown up surgical glove is keeping me guessing as to just how long she can go with out blowing up. The second Jersey is probably going to do the same. My Belted Galloway cow made a run for it this morning but we got her back in. She wasn't due for 2-3 weeks by my notes, but at 2:30 pm she was in labour and at 4;30 pm she dropped a calf. At the 5:30 pm check to see how she was progressing with the placenta ectetera, there was another calf instead. I am kind of bummed out, because she was docile enough that I was going to clip the hair on her udder this week- end so a calf could maybe find it. Now she is a raging lunatic and I am left hoping the calves don't get attached to a ball of hair instead of a teat. I will be out dark and early trying to figure out if they have fed and trying to some how get mamma in a chute without me dying, so I can make sure the calves get their colostrum. Technically, it was a day birth, but a few hours earlier would have been nice.
 
One of my Jerseys popped 4 days ago at 4:30 pm and the second one today at 3 pm. They have been eating when ever they feel like it, mostly during the day between 9am and 7pm with a supplemental feed 2x day. I don't know what conclusion to make as pretty much all of my cows calve during the day.
 
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