REDFIELD, Iowa (DTN) -- Calving season is one of the most important times during the year for the Stark family. While it can hold several challenges, having cows that are good mothers and have their babies on their own is important.

The Stark Family owns S Bar K Cattle and Hay in Baker, Montana, and are participating in DTN's View From the Range series, where DTN will follow a year at the ranch to give readers an inside look at how the ranch operates and cares for its animals.

This segment of the series focuses on calving season on the eastern Montana ranch.

LOW LABOR, HIGH STAKES

"By the book, cows are due to start calving on March 15, but we generally have calves beginning March 1," said Shaylyn Stark. She and husband, Tristan, have their own set of cows and share help with his parents during calving season.

"Tristan tags all the calves of ours and his parents, so during the busiest time, he could be tagging 30 calves in a day," she explained. "We want to keep it as low labor as we can."

To the Starks, low labor means only assisting a cow if she is having difficulty, but weather can play a big part in assistance. If the weather includes extremely low temperatures and/or precipitation, cows may be brought into the corral or barn with a newborn calf to ensure it gets a good start.

Shaylyn said a calf is typically only given a tag and may get a weigh-tape measurement to gather birth weights. A weigh tape is placed around the coronary band at the top of the front hoof to reveal the estimated weight of the calf. On unusually cold days, if a calf has had stress during delivery -- and calves of first-calf heifers -- may receive a vitamin paste to give them an extra boost.

Cows are all calved on pastures, but large windbreaks are available for when the weather isn't favorable. The Starks will also bed the windbreak areas with straw for extra protection. During a blizzard in April 2022, the Starks lost several calves because of the terrible cold and snow, so they now have added calf shelters near the windbreaks for calves to get in out of the elements.

EXTRA EYES ON FIRST-TIME MOTHERS

The Starks bring first-calf heifers into smaller pastures of about 25 acres for calving so they can keep a closer eye on these mothers. "We want the heifers to have a good first-time calving experience, but we also want them to be independent and not depend on our help during calving," Shaylyn explained. "So, unless it's cold or there are several who have calved at the same time and are confused, we leave them out on pasture."

This group is also checked through the night, where the cows are expected to calve on their own at night. She said they do want the heifers to be able to calve on their own but also want to avoid any catastrophes. The heifer group consists of Tristan and Shaylyn's heifers as well as Tristan's parents' heifers. By having them all together, they can share the human labor instead of splitting it into two different groups.

"The pairs typically stay within their calving groups until branding time, which is when we will sort the first-calf heifer group by owners," she added. "Then our 2-year-olds will go out with the rest of the cows."

NUTRITION, GENETICS AND PLANNING AHEAD

To ensure the cows are in good condition for calving, the Starks feed them more prior to and through calving until they are sent to pasture. This would include the high-quality or alfalfa hay they baled the previous summer.

Calves out of the first-calvers are sired by bulls selected for calving ease and growth and bred by artificial insemination. Calves out of the cows are sired by herd bulls. On occasion, they will find out a bull doesn't work as well on their cows as they had hoped and may cause more dystocia problems than they prefer. Most of the cows will get bred on their first cycle after the bulls are turned out. Calving season will wind up by the end of May. Any cows that were due later than that at pregnancy checking time were likely culled from the herd to keep their calving window smaller.

"Calving season is certainly a stressful time, especially now with calves worth as much as they are. But we enjoy seeing new life and spending time together as a family on the ranch," Shaylyn concluded.

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Editor's Note: To see previous stories in this series, go to:

-- "Montana Family Shares View From the Range," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

-- "Montana Ranchers Weather Challenges to Preserve Ranch Heritage," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

-- "Montana Family Follows Winter Weather Care Routine," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at jennifer.carrico@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @JennCattleGal

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