08/05/2026
We have consistently focused our breeding program in the Valtu Angus herd on easy calving. Bull selection has also always been strongly connected to calving ease traits, aiming to produce calves that are born with as little help as possible.
As a result, calving assistance is rarely needed in our herd and is generally limited to very exceptional cases, such as twins sometimes. Normal calving in both heifers and cows usually goes without assistance.
Our routine is mainly monitoring through cameras, making sure the calf is born safely and quickly receives its first colostrum. Quite often, there is no real need to approach the calf until the following day, when we check the calf’s s*x, record its birth weight, and tag it.
This calf, born late yesterday evening, also got up and nursed quickly, just like the majority of calves born in our herd this year.
In general, the cows and heifers in our herd are tolerant towards humans when we need to handle or check the calf. In a few rare cases, when maternal instincts become too protective towards people, we simply give the fresh cow some peace and carry out the calf-related procedures the next day instead.
This young cow is now calving her second calf, and after calving she calmly allows us to check on the calf and assess its condition. She shows trust towards people, which is a very valuable trait both from a herd management and animal welfare perspective.
