Calving time nearly over  

H&N photos by Ty Beaver Rancher Ty Kliewer injects an antibiotic into the mouth of one of the calves
recently born in his herd. Preventing  disease and illness is just one of the concerns of ranchers during calving season.

Season went well for two local ranchers  

By TY BEAVER  

H&N Staff Writer 

March 29, 2007

   Klamath Basin ranchers are reaching the tail end of spring calving. 

   Long hours and unexpected problems can come up during the time, but two ranchers said the season went relatively smoothly thanks to good weather and a little luck. 

   “You’ll have some oddball problems but for the most part, it’s pretty selfsufficient,” said Rocky Liskey of Liskey Farms. 

   Liskey said he was about two-thirds to three-quarters finished with calving his operation’s 325 head of Angus and Gelbvieh stock. He and his son, Josh Liskey, divided up duties watching the older and younger heifers, respectively. 

   Except for losing one calf from a hard pull, Rocky said all his calves were born without incident and are a good-looking group. 

   Rancher Ty Kliewer also said he’d lost only one calf. Kliewer had about 40 cows bred of his family’s 120-head herd, with 25 having calved. The one loss was born 3 weeks premature and wouldn’t have lived long had it survived birth, Kliewer said. 

   Ideal weather 

   Both Liskey and Kliewer said the weather has been ideal this season, the ground staying relatively dry and manageable for calves to lay on throughout. 

   Kliewer said last year’s calving was difficult because the wet spring conditions threatened to claim calves. Liskey said he remembered a severe winter in 1989-90 that pushed him to pen his heifers in unused greenhouses to make sure the calves had a chance. 

   The only difficulties this season for both ranchers have been hours and the usual demands of any calving season. While older heifers aren’t nearly as unpredictable in when they’ll deliver, Liskey said, he still checks on his herd a little after daylight and throughout the day. 

   Kliewer said he’s tried a method this year to cut back on the surprise births in the middle of the night by feeding his heifers in the evening. The practice is supposed to ensure births during the daylight hours. He said he’s on track to have 90 percent of his calves born during the day. 

   Other than that, Kliewer said, his biggest problem is managing to get close to the calves after the fact to tag them and give them an antibiotic. 

   “There are some that, when they calve, they’ll eat you,” he said.

A heifer and her several-weeks-old calf stick together after a brief feeding. Cows can be aggressive when it comes to their offspring, a fact Kliewer is happy for as it protects the calves against predators.

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