Frozen Ears Question

[tadpole]

How many days old does a calf have to be before you dont have to worry about them freezing them anymore.  We have a calf that was born last friday that we kicked out of the barn this morning that now has frozen ears.  We have been checking them every day since he was born and he hasnt had them til now.  It got cold last night but he was inside the barn with mama and another heifer.  I thought after the first couple of days you wouldnt have to worry about it but I guess not.  Also is there any good tricks that anyone has on how to save ears that are already frozen or how to thaw them out and save them? Thanks, Chad. 

 

[DTW]

If part of the ear is hard as a rock and cold you can try to warm them up but i have done it by holding ears in your hands but they still will loose a little bit of the ear. 

I have heard of people using nylons on the ears and taping them against their neck.  Problem is the cow licks the calf and their ears get wet those freezing easier.

 

[JWW]

winter 2010 --- "The year for no ear"


JWW

 

[uluru]

To prevent freezing ears
COZY CAPS
www.ulurushorthorns.com

 

[Bulldaddy]

Once the ears are dry, you shouldn't have any problem with them freezing.  The problem happens when the cow keeps licking the ears right after birth and if it is 10 degrees they will freeze.  Just keep the cow and calf in the barn until after the calf is dry or move to Florida!

 

[peachy]

Move to Florida sounds good!

 

[redsimms]

Normally if they are dry they won't freeze them. We don't have much problem and it gets insanely cold here. BUT if the calf is starting to get sick that is one of the first things that can happen when it is real cold. I would say that is probably what happened.

 

[Jill]

We have never had one loose the ears after they are dryed off.  For the ones that calve when it is really cold, we will put the calf in the hot box until the ears are dry, we have had a couple we caught after the ears were hard and it brought them back and saved the ear.

 

[justintime]

We had such a nasty winter in 09 that I had cows lose the ends of their ears. ... several of them. It may have been that they got wet at a water fountain, but when it is -40 for days on end with the windchill, I am amazed that they don't lose more than the ends of their ears.

 

[xxcc]

You know, I'm am fairly young in the cow business.  (although I was born and raised in it), this is my thirteenth year of owning my own cattle.  Right now I own about 125 head and runs some share cows.  Starting fresh, I kept cows that had good ears and sold ones that didn't have good ears, like justintime said, last winter, I had old cows, young cows, bulls, everything loose parts of their ears.  Ticked me off, I had a pretty cow herd in that department, now I am wishing I had some of the cows back that I had sold as heifer calves...They'd have fit in just fine.

so, how old do they have to be before they will not loose their ears, or even parts...one day before you don't have them any more would be my answer, whether they are just born, or 20 years old.

 

[CAB]

Those short ears are a character look, like my old wrinkled face.
I'm sure that some of the ears were trimmed this year in Iowa. Brent

 

[breeder]

Those tipped ears help ya know what month they were REALLY born in when you go to buy em!!  HAHA!!

 

[luv2show21]

We bought a yearling show heifer in the early 90s at one our breed's big dispersal sales and she turned out to be one of our foundation cows.  People were put off by her frosted back ears, so we were able to afford her. Well, our program wouldn't be the same without Dixie - or as we not-so-originally called her, Frosty.  Her frosty ears didn't affect her production one bit! They added character...

http://www.bigcreekcharolais.com/Dixie.html

I'm surprised more cattle born in Dec/Jan/Feb don't lose their ears.

 

[Dusty]

A guy i know was working cows on one of those real cold days about a month or so ago.  A cow had lost her tag and he went to put another one in and the ear broke off.....

 

[oldwood]

We rub the ears with kerosene, this stimulates the ear plus the kerosene wont let ice form, keeps em from freezing.