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Winter 2020
Special Edition
The R.O.B.A. Review Reindeer Owners and Breeders Association
In This Issue
• 2020 Annual Meeting
• New ROBA Website
• North American CWD
project
• CFR/Regulation update SPRING 2020
April/June
ROBA Newsletter
Doug Dahnke Editor —10015 East US Hyw 40 Martinsville, Illinois 624542 - [email protected]
Board of Directors:
At Large- 2022- Mike Jablonski (President) Hamburg, New York, Ph. 716-912-4472 email: [email protected]
At Large- 2023- Doug Dahnke Martinsville, Il Ph-217-251-6381 [email protected]
East Region- 2021 - Dan Downs, (Treasurer) La Rue, Ohio. Ph. 740-361-1620 email: [email protected]
Central Region- 2021- Jeff Phillips, Hartford, Wisconsin, Ph. 262-224-1199 email: [email protected]
Western Region- 2022– Amy Kravitz, Grand Canyon Deer farm, Ph 928-255-3692 [email protected]
North Region- 2022 - Louise Sherwood, Napanee, Ontario, Canada, Ph. 613-354-1869 email: [email protected]
Alaska Region- 2023 - Greg Finstad, Fairbanks, Alaska, Ph. 907-474-6055 email: [email protected]
At Large -2023- Michael F Cary DVM, Pine City, New York, Ph. 607-524-6163 email: [email protected]
At Large -2021- Daryl Simon, (Vice President) Lake Crystal, Minnesota, Ph. 507-381=1718
email: [email protected]
Correspondence Office— Bev Herda
Reindeer Owners and Breeders Association
PO Box 883,Lake Crystal , MN 5605
Ph-507-726-6996
info@reindeerowners,com
Lets make this our goal this year!!!!!!!!!!
Reindeer Registry
We need to grow!!
Look for forms on the website or
Contact Mike or Mindy Jablonski -email [email protected] ph– 716-912-4472
BLOG Thoughts!!!!!!
Is anyone interested in doing a short Blog for the
newsletter?
If so, send me your thoughts!! [email protected]
ROBA Facebook Group
Host Jeff Philips
The intent of this private ROBA Facebook group is to offer a platform in which
information can be shared quickly.
It is open to ROBA members, their immediate family. And also people
Who work directly with the members farm and reindeer.
Please contact
Jeff Phillips/Doug Dahnke
Email- [email protected]—- Ph 217-251-6381
You can also contact Jeff and Doug on Facebook
NEW MEMBERS
Christana Coleman and Catherine Dowden-Poage
info @fourwindscarrige.com 972-822-0424
Drew Osborn——[email protected] 865-414-8147
Tracy & Jason Haycox——[email protected] 812-639-1361
Rebbecca Taylor————[email protected] 716-998-4116
Lucas Jablonski———- [email protected] 716-912-4517
Trenton Dahnke and Heidi Miller ———[email protected] 217-685-1945
Jeff Mabey Utah Reindeer LLC —utahreindeerGmail.com 920-639-3420
John / Kelly / Grace Gilbert ——— [email protected] 201-327-8690 and 201-669-8416
Welcome to ROBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From the President
Hello Everyone,
I hope you are all well. A lot of things have changed since our National conference. We now have social distancing, stay at home orders, and no unessential business allowed to go to work. These will be changing times for all of us, but I’m sure we will get thru this. I have to say our ROBA family is strong. I have seen and heard from members concerned about each other and that is a great feeling to know that people are with you thru this. I do not know where this journey will take us, but I’m sure we’ll get thru it together. Please everyone, stay in touch during these trying times so we can keep each other up to date.
I want to thank everyone for a great conference. Many people helped Mindy and I get this conference together here in Hamburg, New York. It was a good conference and I believe we were able to resolve many issues. We still have much more to do to keep moving forward. We are working on some of the final details on the website and you should be seeing some emails coming shortly on that. I will say that since we are in or approaching calving season, social distancing will become easier as the reindeer will occupy much of our time. I have done this for years, just me and my calves. But remember, you are never truly alone as you have a network of people out there to help you with their ideas and support. ROBA members, this is our busiest time, especially this year when we will be having calves with less help from others due to the virus. So, use the phone and call if you need anything. We have a great members, all with a lot of experience. Stay safe, stay healthy and pray that in a month we will all start to see the end of the Covid-19 virus.
God Bless
Mike Jablonski
March 7, 2020 Annual Membership Meeting Minutes
• Approval of the 2019 Board Meeting Minutes o Can be found in the April addition of the newsletter
o Minutes were approved by majority vote
• Newsletter o Last year we voted for an electronic version of the newsletter
o Those who still want a paper copy can email the corresponding secretary (Bev)
o We are increasing the substance of the newsletters
• The Conference o Membership meetings occur during the conference
▪ At the end of the conference, before the auction, we have a membership meet-ing
o All meetings are being recorded now
• Comments from Members of ROBA ▪ We will follow the bylaws the best we can. ▪ We are not a huge corporation ▪ Our main focus is ROBA. ▪ We do not agree on everything, but we need to be together in this association.
Anyone who wants to be a board member can step up and be one. ▪ We need more face to face or phone call communication ▪ We will change the way we do the minutes ▪ If you have questions you can call a board member ▪ The new website will help with communication ▪ No one gets payed it is all volunteer ▪ Last year the Canada meeting was streamed on-line and everyone had the op-
portunity to watch through Zoom ▪ We need the memberships to help this organization as well
• Reports by Officers
o Louise Sherwood
▪ Director of the North
• Which is all of Canada there are approximately 3 members o Dr. Finstad
▪ Program Director of the Reindeer Research Program
o Daryl Simon
▪ Vice President
o Dan Downs
▪ Treasurer
o Amy Kravitz
▪ Western Regional Director and Secretary
o Doug Dahnke
▪ Director At Large
o Jeff Phillips
▪ Central Regional Director
o Dr. Mike Cary
▪ Director At Large ▪ Trying to get medical articles on the website
• Dr. Sophia wants him to cite his sources
• Proposed Bylaw Changes o Lifetime membership
▪ Was created in 2001-2002 by Tom Sheib and some other board members ▪ It is not a definition of membership; it is a due ▪ Listed under membership fees and dues ▪ You can be an active member or associate member, and be a lifetime member ▪ It is NOT a class of membership
• Corresponding Secretary Definition o Corresponding secretary is an appointed position
o Bev is the Corresponding Secretary
▪ Has many responsibilities pertaining to the membership ▪ She takes all the emails
o Sara Kroll is now also the corresponding secretary
▪ Bev will be retiring
• Secret Ballot o Definition (please refer to the Board meeting minutes)
• Dr. Greg Finstad on the Ballot o Was a mistake to be on the ballot; was meant to be a vote of confidence
o Greg is an appointed position and the ballot should have said “confirmation”
o The board can name people into positions such as the corresponding secretary
• Membership o Membership is not declining
o but has increased 7-10% in the last 5 years
o It is everyone’s responsibility to make new members feel welcome o New position created- Janet Roark greeter
• New Alaska Region o The Alaskan region was included in the west, but they now want another region o Greg represents the research program, like Bob Dietrich did
o Membership election for Alaska Region
▪ Active members all voted yes o We will now take nominations based on the new memberships
o This December someone will be nominated for the Alaskan region
• Questions about Term Limits o There is no limit to the number of terms you can do
o Nominate someone else if you want someone else to run
o There are no paid positions
• Gannon University o Requires so much funding to start a research program
o Not enough funding
o No facility that would take this research program on
o We need a new University that can start a research program
• Website o We have one website now
o The bylaws are now on the website
• Newsletter-Doug Dahnke o The 1st week of the new month of the quarter
o January is being moved to the 15th (middle)
o Special edition between Jan. 15 and the annual meeting o Doug Dahnke will be tracking USDA legislation pertaining to reindeer
▪ Will put in the newsletter any CFR9 amendments
• The 2016-2017 ROBA Reindeer Auction o Dr. Finstad as a researcher asks questions and does a study to try and answer that
question o Environmental or genetic differences
▪ Put reindeer in the lower 48 to see the physical measurable differences
• Observed differences-basis behind the genetic study ▪ Carol Borton, Daryl Simon, etc reindeer herd were studied and were found to
have genetic differences in comparison to the Alaskan herds of reindeer
▪ The results of this genetic study were presented at the Canada meeting ▪ We have a little bit of money to continue this study ▪ We voted last year at the Canada meeting to continue this genetic study ▪ There were some concerns about inbreeding and based on the study there is no
indication of inbreeding within the herds that were studied
▪ Details on continuing this study and submission of samples will go on the web-site
• Ear punch or velvet samples o The endowment went to fund the genetic study
o The foundation is separate, and needs to go to reindeer research
o Dan Downs and Kyle Wilson got their money returned for the reindeer at auction
o “6 reindeer came in from the University of Alaska and the only people that got them
were board members. 2 were auctioned, and 6 were brought in. ▪ Why weren’t the other 4 put up for auction?”
• It was Dr. Finstad’s independent decision to bring the extra reindeer down.
• They are social animals and these animals were going to go to slaughter. o Questions pertaining to this project or the 2016-2017 live reindeer auction can be
emailed to Dr. Finstad or Mike Jablonski
• Financials o Our financials are done by a third-party accounting firm on a quarterly basis and a year
basis
o We will be doing a pie chart of the end of the year financials
• Legislation o Please call your board members for help with legislation
▪ Ex: Daryl Simon talked with 3 state veterinarians to make sure that people could get reindeer in their state
o If there is something going on in your state call a board member
o We need each other in this organization to face all future issues and legislation
• Membership Committee o John Cusson nominated as head of this committee
o Board members will write a criteria of what we need to do to keep our membership
• Breeding Standards and Pedigree Committee o Emma Cusson nominated as head of this committee o We need a baseline which would require many members to submit DNA
o Emma will report to the president
• By-Laws Committee o Tracy Snowman nominated as head of committee
• FaceBook o managed by Jeff Phillips o Question about why it is not interactive
▪ 3 reasons
• Denise Hardy has a wonderful interactive page that is already doing that and she monitors it well; we don’t need another one
• We will post announcements for convenience and speed and interactions cause cloudiness and difficulty in finding specific announcements
• There will be a forum on the website for questions and answers
o Contact Jeff Phillips through email if you want something posted on FaceBook page
• National Meeting Hosting o Hans Anderson, Richard Corbin, and other members that emailed are interested in
hosting a National Meeting next year o For regional meetings please contact Bev or Mike Jablonski
▪ Regional meeting should not occur on the same date as to not split up the group ▪ Snowmans expressed interest in hosting a regional meeting
• We will have further announcements pertaining to future meetings on the website
3/6/2020 National Board Meeting Minutes If you have any questions about these detailed meeting minutes, please contact Amy Kravitz by cell-phone 928-255-3692. If I don’t answer, please leave a voicemail because I am often in an area with-out reception. Please feel free to text or email as well especially if you don’t hear back from me, Email: [email protected] Thanks everyone Attendees role call Mike Jablonski Jeff Phillips Dr. Mike Cary Dan Downs Daryl Simon Dr. Greg Finstad Amy Kravitz Doug Dahnke Louise Sherwood
• Elections of New Officers o Daryl Simon nominated Mike Jablonski as president
▪ All board members were in favor o Dan Downs was nominated by Mike Jablonski as Treasurer
▪ All board members were in favor o Mike Jablonski nominated Amy Kravitz as the Secretary
▪ All board members were in favor
• Financials o Year-end report summary should be given to members only by request as per bylaws
for the safety of the organization o Board members agreed to a pie chart o Board members agreed that we need to protect financial information and we will com-
municate that to our ROBA members o An accounting firm has gone over the financials
o We went over the year end summary report and website expenses
• Presenting Emailed Questions at the Annual membership Meeting o We went over the emails and discussed how we were going to present and answer the
many questions asked at the annual membership meeting in an appropriate time ▪ We agreed to read the questions aloud at the meeting ▪ Discussed that the meeting minutes based on the bylaws should be available
within 30 days
• FaceBook o Interactive forum on our new website
▪ Notification that someone is asking a question on the forum ▪ Work on a plug in for that notification - will talk to website people ▪ Look up questions by subject ▪ Build a database
• ex: calving, antler shedding, etc
• Committee Guidelines o Board members need to come up with guidelines for new committees created during
the membership meeting o List of goals created by the committee chair member
o Committee members need to meet those goals
• NADEFA o Discussed the differences between our organization and theirs
We have encouraged members to join NADEFA ▪ NADEFA is not the same organization and does not have the same mission
statement but is an asset to and works with ROBA
• Legislation o Members should let ROBA know about specific state legislation that impacts the rein-
deer industry o Doug Dahnke volunteered to monitor the CFR9 through an app which will notify him of
new legislation pertaining to reindeer ▪ He will put a synopsis of the CFR in the newsletter
An email will go out if there is a hit on CFR9
• Secret Ballot o The secret ballot for ROBA as defined by our bylaws is a nonverbal vote
o 3 Reasons your name has to be on the ballot as per bylaws
▪ We need to know what region you are from ▪ Active or associate member ▪ Only one vote per membership
o The bylaws also state that the written ballots be kept on file
• Regional Representation of Alaska o Dr. Finstad does not represent the Alaska region
o He represents the academic institution reindeer research program
▪ His title is “Board Advisor” ▪ Adding an Alaskan region to ROBA needs to be decided at the annual member-
ship meeting according to the bylaws
• New Alaska region needs to be voted on at the meeting by the active at-tending members
• A motion that all future nominations for Board of Directors require a bio of why you want to run so members know who they are voting for
o All board members were in favor
• There are no paid positions in ROBA
• Meeting adjourned
Note From Doug
2020 Annual ROBA meeting, The time spending with friends
and aspiring new reindeer owners was fantastic. I am truly sorry
I missed my deadline of the first week of April. With the Covid-
19 bogging things down, And we had 2 tornados go down both
sides of the farm last Wednesday, its been an interesting couple
of weeks. Hope all is good Stay safe/Stay Healthy
Thanks again– God Bless
Doug
CFR UPDATE/ REGULATION WATCH
With the country in the social distancing mode—There is nothing to
report on the CFR or regulations front.
I Did call my USDA Inspector and had a good conversation with her, and
told her what I was wanting to do with the updates to the group.
She too , said nothing has move forward since first of the year. But she
will help me watch as things get going again.
If anyone hears of things at your state level please contact a board
member so we can research and make calls.
Sincerely , Doug
PROBIOTICS DURING CALVING
FASTRACK FOR REINDEER
Probiotics are great to have have our reindeer, but not all probiotics are the same. The Fastrack line of products are superior to any other probi-otics on the market.
Fastrack products are all natural probiotics & prebiotics ( food for the probiotics to flourish).
JUMPSTART ULTRA GEL is a top seller especially during calving season. Dosage is 5 ml per calf. Each 5 ml serving as minimum of 5 billion colony forming units for the good bacterias. It also has antibodies against cornovirus, rotovirus, colostridial C & D, Ecoli and Salmonelia, to name a few. The gel is made with all natural ingedrients.
JUMPSTART ULTRA GEL is also great for an adult with digestive issues. It will normalize the PH, and help get rid of the bad bacterias. Anytime you give an antibiotic you should be giving a probiotic to replenish the good bacteria in the gut.
FASTRACK MICROBIAL PACK is a granular mixture of our probiotics and prebiotics that are top dressed on the animals grain. Available in 5# and 50# bags
Support your reindeer immune system with Fastrack products.
For more information or to order Call or email
Carol Borton
269-491-8507
ROBA Meeting Pictures More to come in future issues
Pasteurizing colostrum: the next step to controlling disease
Calves absorbed more immunoglobulins when colostrum was pasteurized
by Jud Heinrichs and Coleen Jones
PASTEURIZATION has been shown to be very effective at killing a variety of pathogenic bacte-ria including: Salmon-ella, E. coli, Mycobacterium avium sub-species paratuberculosis, Myco-bacterium californicum, Mycobacterium bovis, and Listeria monocytogenes. With proper pasteurization, these bacteria are reduced in both waste milk and colostrum. If you are using pasteurization for waste milk to control the spread of disease, feeding fresh, unpasteurized colostrum represents a break in the system that could allow organisms to spread to your replacement herd. Pasteurizing colostrum can eliminate this weak link and may also improve blood IgG levels and calf health. Bacteria can get into colostrum through contamination from milking dirty udders, reservoirs in dirty milking equipment or colostrum storage containers, and by direct shedding from the udder. We are learning that pasteurization can be used for colostrum in a similar manner as it is used for waste milk. However, there are distinct differences in the way colostrum is pasteurized compared to waste milk. First, we must remember that the nutrient density of colostrum is different from whole milk. Solids such as fat and protein affect how heat is transferred through colostrum or milk. The fat content of colostrum can often be at least two times that of milk and may be much greater. Protein is often four or more times greater in colostrum versus whole milk. In addition, colostrum has high levels of immunoglobulins that require different heat levels and treatment than those used for milk. Early attempts at pasteurizing colostrum using the same time and temperature used in pasteurizing whole milk were largely unsuccessful due to the large reduction in immunoglobulin levels or the creation of a thick, pudding-like mass that was hard to feed and even harder to cleanout of pasteurization equipment. In the past few years, research has studied how to best pasteurize colostrum while maintaining its quality. Since colostrum can be quite varied from cow to cow, it is unlikely that a single definition of time and temperature can be found for true pasteurization for all colostrum. However, a study using a wide variety of colostrum samples conducted at Penn State and published in the Journal of Dairy Science early this year showed that, on aver-age, heating colostrum at 140°F for 30minutes is the optimum combination to reduce bacteria counts without affecting colostrum IgG levels or viscosity. Other research from the University of Minnesota showed that if higher levels of disease-causing organisms are present in the colostrum, heating to 140°F for 60minutes will give a more reliable kill of these harmful bacteria; however, slightly more IgG may be lost in the process.
Based on the different characteristics of colostrum compared to waste milk, researchers have determined that batch pasteurization is the only way to successfully pasteurize colostrum. In addition, consistent heating is critical, because once temperatures get over 140°F(60°C), IgG proteins coagulate and IgG levels in the processed colostrum drop. Therefore, a reliable pasteurizer that has good temperature controls is recommended. An unexpected finding of the research studying pasteurized colostrum was that calves fed pasteurized colostrum absorbed more IgG. In a Minnesota study, 24-hour serum IgG was 22.3mg/mL in calves fed pasteurized colostrum compared to 18.1 mg/mL in calves fed raw colostrum. Apparent efficiency of IgG absorption was also improved in the calves fed pasteurized colostrum (35.6 versus 26.1 percent). This phenomenon was observed in two different experiments at Penn State, as well. In one study, calves fed colostrum heated at 140°F for 30 minutes had serum IgG of 22.6mg/mL at 24 hours compared to 19.6 mg/mL for calves fed raw colostrum. The higher blood IgG levels remained for the first five weeks of age. Absorption efficiency was 33.2 percent for pasteurized colostrum and 27.7 percent for raw. In a second Penn State study, calves fed pasteurized colos-trum had blood IgG levels of26.7 mg/mL compared to 20.2 mg/mL at 24hours of age for calves fed unheated colostrum. Efficiency of absorption was 43.9 percent and 33.9 percent for pasteur-ized and raw colostrum, respectively. In these three studies, feeding pasteurized colostrum increased 24-hour serum IgG levels by 25 percent and absorption efficiency by 28 percent compared to feeding raw colostrum. Improving absorption efficiency can have huge impacts on calves as they are able to attain sig-nificantly higher blood levels of IgG when fed the same quality of colostrum. Based on past research, we know that increasing 24-hour blood IgG levels can have significant positive effects on calf health. On a practical basis, colostrum from the cow hat calved today will have to be harvested, pasteurized, and cooled down before feeding. As a result, most calves probably will not receive colostrum from their dam. Instead, pasteurized colostrum will be stored (refrigerated if a large herd, frozen if a small herd) to be used for the next calf that is born. Calves will still be fed colostrum produced by cows from your herd which should ensure that antibodies specific to the organisms found on the farm are passed to calves. Results of colos-trum pasteurization research suggest that heat-treating colostrum may present an excellent opportunity to reduce bacterial populations in colostrum and increase IgG absorption, thereby reducing the percentage of dairy calves that experience failure of passive antibody transfer. The explanation of why IgG absorption is improved when colostrum is pasteurized is not yet clear, although it maybe due to changes in colostrum components when they are exposed to heat or possibly to reduced competition between proteins for absorption.
Past research has shown that bacteria introduced into the gut before colostrum feeding can reduce the amount of IgG absorbed by calves. But, in a recent Penn State study, calves fed colostrum that contained ahigh bacterial load (measured by standard plate count and coliform count) absorbed similar amounts of IgG as calves fed colostrum with a low bacterial load. Although further research is need-ed to explain why IgG absorption improves, It seems clear that heating Colostrum does offer advantages in providing cleaner colostrum for calves
By James Enos
If you’re reading this newsletter, you have successfully navigated into the Members Only area of the new,
official, ROBA website. The website is now fully functional and contains many new features including:
• A secure, Members Only area where we can securely communicate without the prying eyes of a public
website.
• The brand new ROBA Store including all your favorite ROBA attire and more, by Cindy Phillips. The
store is stocked and waiting for your orders. You can order your favorite swag and securely pay on the
website. Your new merch will be shipped directly to your home.
• A fully functional membership application, and membership renewal process, including the ability to
securely pay for your membership right on the site.
• A secure online Forum where we can interact, post questions, share knowledge, and discuss reindeer
out of the public eye.
• Detailed instructions on using the Forum are coming soon, directly to your e-mail address.
• Be sure to “Subscribe” to your favorite discussions!
• Meeting information, past and upcoming.
• ROBA resources including:
• The latest newsletter by Doug Dahnke
• By-Laws
• The Code of Ethics
• Meeting Checklists
• The ROBA Registry
• And more!
In the not-to-distant future, we will be adding helpful articles, website links and more. If you have a
suggestion, please feel free to let me know. If you have issues getting logged into the Members Only
section of the website, get with Bev Herda [email protected] or Sara Kroll
[email protected] If you have issues with the functionality of the website, get with Jim Enos
[email protected] If you have content you would like added to the website, hit all three of us up and
we’ll look it over. Happy Surfing!!!
Vet Notes
We will try to put info here of articles that are published
or submitted
This information was passed along by Dr. Cary
Please read and become informed.
Preparation & Protocol for Calving
by Michael F. Cary, DVM
Preparation for calving should start prior to breeding the cow. Calves are usually weaned in August. The annual breeding associated vaccines, deworming & fecal checks, and Vitamin E / selenium are usually given then. Vaccines for the calves are started @ 6 - 8+weeks. Calving associ-ated vaccines for adults are given 1 -2 months prior to calving are given then and the yearlings boostered with the adults. Typical vaccines include Clostridial 8-way, Clostridial Type A, Tetanus, Leptospirosis, Campylobacter, Pasteurolsis, Haemophilis, IBR, BVD, E. coli, Rota & Corona Viral, RSV, Rabies, West Nile ( if indicated), and any other vaccines that may be indicated in a particular situation. It is preferable not to give modified live virus vaccines during pregnancy, especially during the first trimester. It could theoretically cause birth defects, or late in pregnancy the stress could cause abortions, especially if there is an allergic reaction. Generally we don’t recommend any modi-fied live vaccines in Reindeer as there are no vaccines licensed for Reindeer, Theoretically MLV vaccines could mutate in untested species and cause disease. Vaccines should be split up so no more than 2 or 3 are given at once.
Make sure the herd is on a good diet. Test forage or animals if a problem is suspected or possible. Try to record breeding dates if possible. At least record the dates the bulls are exposed to which cows. You will need to know when to start expecting the first calves, approximately 224 days later. Cows can have a pregnancy test done by sending in a blood sample to check progesterone through your veterinarian. Pregnant cows should have a serum progesterone of >5.6ng/ml from after breeding until parturition, while non-pregnant cows should have <3.2ng/ml and decrease to <1ng/ml by March. Calves may take longer to decrease as they start cycling later. Sometimes progesterone is not accurate as the Reindeer could still be cycling. A better test is the BioPryn test by BioTracking. BioPRYNwild measures the presence of Pregnancy-Specific Protein B (PSPB), a protein only produced by the placenta of the growing fetus of ruminant mammals .Reindeer can be tested as early as 40 days post breeding although I usually wait 60+ days.
Try to do your TB & Brucellosis testing in Jan. or Feb. so as to not stress the cow in late preg-nancy. Scour vaccines are given 1 month prior to the due dates, with an initial vaccine given 2-4 weeks earlier if it has not been given before.
Cows must have a clean, dry place without dusty or fine particle bedding to calve that is quiet and that they are comfortable in, with fresh food, and water that calves can't fall into. Check the cows several times daily starting well before the expected due date. Move quietly and get the cows used to you being there with them. The cow's udder will usually swell prior to calving, but sometimes not fully until calving, especially with heifers. Often the cow will seek out a quiet place away from the rest of the herd to calve. Birthing should proceed rapidly and without problems, however if the cow is obviously having problems, you may need to help. Potential problems would be abnormal positioning, too large a calf, too nervous a cow, a dead fetus, etc. Get the cow into a stall where you can handle her. Sometimes mild traction with plenty of lubrication is all you need. If it looks too involved for you, call your veterinarian immediately, waiting can mean a lost calf and/or cow. If you’re not sure, call someone with more experience.
Allow the cow to clean the calf off and watch to be sure the calf is nursing. Make sure the fetal mem-branes are off the face. Once they have bonded well move them into a separate pen or stall where they can be together but still see the rest of the herd. Make sure there are no drafts at calf level. Weigh the calf and record the weights. Calves usually weigh 8 to 14 lbs. but can weigh up to 20 lbs., smaller or younger cows tend to have smaller calves while larger and older cows tend to have larger calves. Dip the navel in Tincture of Iodine or spray with Triple Iodine. I give an injection of Vitamin E / selenium, and give additional Vitamin E with 5 - 6 cc of Baby Lamb Saver. I also give 10cc of Polyserum and 5cc of Clostridia perfringes antitoxin subcutaneously. Oral antibodies such as Bovine Ecolizer + C can be given with 3 -5 cc orally in the first few hours after birth.
You need to be sure the calf is nursing within 2 hours and that the cow actually has milk. Check the cow's udder and make sure the calf's mouth is warm. Always check to be sure the cow’s teats are patent and you can express the colostrum which can be very thick initially. The cow will usually lie down to let the calf nurse. A big calf may even prefer to stand. Help the calf if they are having problems. If you are not sure the calf got colostrum within 12 hours of birth, give 50-100cc of plasma orally or subcutaneously, or a colostrum replacer. I weigh the calf at birth, then before and after nursing to be sure it got milk every 2 – 3 hours until it is gaining weight well. Initially the calf will lose weight as it dries out. If a calf is cold and weak, you will need to get the antibodies into the calf but will have to warm the calf up prior to feeding. If the body temperature is too low, the calf cannot digest its food and can actually become worse when fed milk. Sometimes oxytocin can be given to help the cow to let down her milk. If you cannot get any milk from the cow, you may have to bottle feed the calf. If the cow is mothering the calf, her milk may come in late. Domperidone can be given to try to stimulate milk production. If you can get the antibodies into the calf, you may only have to supplement for a few days. Electrolyte solutions should be given until the calf is warmed up and ready to nurse or be bottle fed. Your veterinarian can check the total protein of the calf's plasma, between 1 – 5 days of age. In cattle , it should be at least 5.5mg/dl. If it is low then the calf did not get enough colostrum and should be given plasma subcutaneously or intravenously.
The cow should have plenty of food and water (in containers that the calf cannot fall into or get stuck in). Keep the cow and calf together for at least 2 to 3 days or until the calf seems to be jumping around and nursing well. Check the calf several times daily initially. Crotch out the calf to prevent feces from accumulating and causing fly strike. Use fly spray if necessary. Identify the calf with tattoo or tag or microchip prior to releasing it back to the herd. I usually keep dam & calf in the small pen for 3 -5 days and the lot with other cow/calf pairs until 5 -7 days, then release them to the main herd. Continue to observe the calf after it joins the herd. Make sure all calves have safe access to feed and water. Handle the calves frequently and consider halter training at an early age. Calves are usually weaned at 3 months of age.
Calves can be bottle fed if the cow doesn't have enough milk or a tamer calf is desired, however it takes much time, you have the cost of the milk replacer, and the calves don't usually grow as fast. Also bulls which are bottle fed should be steered as they could be dangerous as adult bulls.
Vaccinations are usually started @ 3 months but some can be started as early as 4 weeks.
You can read the outline form Brief Reindeer Manual by Scott Cary on our website:
https://sites.google.com/site/santas2ndstringreindeer
or read Gordon Poest's book "Raising Reindeer for Pleasure and Profit" or use the ROBA Health Man-ual for more information.
Classifieds Member Rate-$15/per issue-includes website
Non-member Rate-$35/per issue-includes newsletter
Make checks to ROBA and mail to Correspondence Secretary
Rocky Hill Reindeer
Great Reindeer at average prices!
Also offering Sleighs for sale.
Healthy reindeer available today!
Sales / Rentals / Leasing
Call for current availability
Dogwood farms, Knoxville, Tennessee
(865)405-8609
Email– [email protected]
Website– www.reindeerman.com
Reindeer calves
Read about the Reindeer Games Calving
Philosophy and Natural Wellness Approach
@ www.reindeergames-wi.com
TB Accredited/Brucellosis Certified
12 Yr CWD Monitored
Jeff & Cindy Phillips– Reindeer Games
5751 East Waterford Rd,Harttford
WI 53027-9098 Ph-262-305-7733
Reindeer for sale and Lease
Santa’s Second String/Locust Hill Farm
Dr, Mike Carey
Quality Breeding Stock/TB accredited/
CWD Monitoring since 10/01
Well Vaccinated.
Also-Guinea Foul-Muscovy Ducks
Ph-607-524-6163 or
Or http://sites.google.com/site/
santas2ndstringreindeer
Classifieds Continued: Member Rate-$15/per issue-includes website
Non-member Rate-$35/per issue includes newsletter
Reindeer for sale or Lease
Reindeer Express
Our herd is TB accredited, and a USDA
Licensed Facility
Contact Ed and Sonya Benhardt
P O Box 311Reardon
Washington 99029
Ph-509-990-1286
Website= www.reindeerexpress.org
Timberview Farm
Reindeer displays/Promotional Rentals
Farm Field trips/ Educational Outreach
And Advertising Media use
Customized to your event.
Oregon based/Only work within Oregon
USDA/ODFW Licensed
Ph-541=933-1832
Website-www.timberviewfarm.net
Reindeer For sale
Reindeer for sale and Display
Whitetail Acres-Alice Priessman
Brookville, IN 47012
765-993-0406
Website– www.mywhitetail.com
YOUR AD HERE
Sell it here!
Send ad to Doug Dahnke
