Spring has sprung and hopefully the rains will continue where our country will heal from the previous droughts and our grasses will thrive. We are especially hopeful for the Panhandle of Texas where our neighbors and friends have been dealt a deadly blow to homes, ranges, livestock and people. Keep them in your prayers as they will not be able to return to normal for many years if at all.

Having lost their ability to benefit from this great cattle market is a double whammy for all of them.

Now is the time of year when we need to take care of business as it relates to our new calves that have been hitting the ground this spring. First and foremost is vaccinating for Blackleg followed by deworming with a white wormer and the IBR complex. Blackleg is a soil-born disease and with pastures extremely short this spring our calves have been grazing the green grass as soon as it shows itself making them even more vulnerable to picking contaminates from the soil. In my observations, calves that become infected and die do so when they are the picture of health and weigh in the 350–400-pound range. And for whatever the reason they seem to die close to a water source such as a stock tank. Death is
usually the first symptom of Blackleg and in my time in the cattle business I have only seen one calf with blackleg that was still alive but eventually died.

After we get our calves covered, we need to focus our attention on our cows and bulls. Number one on my list for vaccinations is Lepto-Vibrio. With the wild hog population continuing to grow, the incidence of lepto will likely increase accordingly. Next on our list is deworming our cattle two years old and younger and the older ones if needed, in our opinion.

As cattle get older they do develop some immunity to internal parasites, but when conditions get tough, as they have been, you may want to consider deworming, especially if they are running in high concentrations and having free moisture on the leaves of our grass.

We have also had a few incidents of lice showing up on our cattle this spring. The number one symptom is the loss of hair resulting from the cattle rubbing on tree limbs or any other thing they can to get some relief from the irritation cause by lice. In any case as the saying goes “in May, the lice go away”, so we don’t have much longer to deal with them.

With our cattle in good health, free choice mineral available and our bulls ready to go to work, getting our cows rebred is the next order of business. Our cows are putting on weight, giving lots of milk the calves are turning the crank. According to my figuring the other day, if our calves are gaining 2 ˝ to 3 pounds per day, at $4.00 per pound on sale day at weaning, they are adding $10-$12.00 of value per day. Put the pencil to it, it is an exercise you will enjoy doing.

It's a wonderful time to be in the cattle business.

Rayford Pullen
Pullen Angus