winter calving question

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vanridge

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Joined
Jan 26, 2011
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468
Location
Manitoba, Canada
ok, so I am not really sure where to post this question but I was wondering if anybody ever uses their cattle blower to dry their newborns in cold weather? We live in Canada and we start calving in mid February. We haven't purchased a blower yet but are looking into it.  We are planning on getting the sullivan air express III because it has a heater. Any thoughts?
 

kjd farms

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Sep 3, 2008
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233
Location
Cornwall, Prince Edward Island, Canada
When needed we use a basic hair dryer, towel, and calf coat to warm our calves up.  The bulk of our calving is done from December to February, but we usually don't have to do much to them unless it's -15 celsius or less.  We keep a close eye on ears and tails.  We've used leg warmers on their necks to keep their ears close to their necks so they keep warm.  We've also used the calf ear muffs as well.  If the calf doesn't get up quickly to suck within an hour or so, we'll thaw some frozen colostrum from a dairy farm and get them started.
 

vanridge

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Joined
Jan 26, 2011
Messages
468
Location
Manitoba, Canada
Thanks for the imput. we were wondering if it would work or not but the calf probably gets too cold with a blower. A hair dryer packs more heat and less wind. We also use ear warmers, but I haven't perfected my design yet. We are hoping that we are done with the cold snaps and windy days. Its been pretty chilly up here lately. -10 - 15 C with no wind and sunshine would be good!
 

stkrdge

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Mar 5, 2010
Messages
168
Location
Janesville Wisconsin
we use a karosene salamander and a double blower, brushing vigerously with a plastic scrubby. this takes a little while , but you can get them really dry. we do at least 30 this  way every season.
 

CAB

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Mar 5, 2007
Messages
5,607
Location
Corning,Iowa
worthabit said:
The kerosene heaters work great and if you don't have leg warmers, duct tape the ears back to the neck.

Old panty hose work well to keep the ears next to their body.
 
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