Christmas Morning: Three Cheers for Warm Ears

Christmas morning for cows begins the same way it usually does: With their rancher feeding them. Before the rancher can feed his cows, first is the donning of winter clothes. On goes the stocking hat, the coat, the scarf, the heavy boots, and the gloves. Then they’re ready for the day to begin, and the cows can be fed.

A good Christmas present on those cold winter mornings is nice, warm, dry cows nestled into their bedding and no better Christmas present then a new calf!

As exciting as that may be, ranchers would look at that and groan.

“Oh, their poor ears!” they would say.

When calves are born in the cold weather, their delicate little ears sometimes freeze, just like our frostbitten fingers and toes. When their ears freeze at this tender age, the calves will have short ears for the rest of their lives.

That doesn’t seem to affect their ability to live and thrive (unless they freeze their tail and feet too), but buyers don’t like to see frozen ears. That could mean that the calf will have bad feet, or perhaps a few other internal issues that would

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lead to poor gains.

Keeping cold weather calves’ ears from freezing isn’t as easy as it may sound. Even if the rancher catches it on video or sees it in person and rushes in with blankets to dry off the calf immediately, sometimes the ears still freeze. Why?

David and Linda Beutscher from Medina, North Dakota have the answer.

“Sometimes, cows mother too much,” Mrs. Beutscher says with a laugh. “Cows lick the calves off to dry them, and it’s also an important time for them to bond. They lick the calves’ ears a lot.”

The Beutschers knew this was the problem, but now the issue was to find a solution. So onto the great calf ear covering trials they went!

“We tried stocking caps and duct tape–it all fell off,” said Mrs. Beutscher.

They began developing a prototype for a hood to keep the calves’ ears back in a “natural birthing position,” next to the neck where they would be kept warm.

Designed with quality materials like heavy neoprene, a closed cell material that doesn’t soak up water, and heavy nylon thread used commonly for stitching boots together, their calf hoods are made to last. And last they do, as David chuckles at my question. “I’m still using some of the prototypes!”

That’s really impressive, because their trialand-error attempts to find the perfect design ended after four years, in 1969. Since then, the Beutschers have been making and selling their revolutionary calf hoods from coast to coast.

Their calf hoods fit “like a dog collar,” they say. “You want it snug, but not too tight.” There are three velcro straps: One behind their ears, one under their chin, and one on their neck. “Fit two fingers under the one on their chin and the one on their neck. That way, they can nurse naturally.”

Now, if you’ve ever seen a group of newborn calves, you’ll know that they come in all different sizes. Generally, the Beutschers recommend their hood in size small for the Angus producers, and also for any heifers, as their calves are usually on the smaller side. For the Charolais producer out there, they suggest their large-sized hood. “The small adjusts up to a medium size, and the large adjusts down to medium, so there’s some variability to match the calves.”

Their own herd of Herefords, Simmentals, and Angus cows make good use of their calf hoods.

Mr. and Mrs. Beutscher both have a hand in making their calf hoods: Mr. Beutscher cuts them out and Mrs. Beutscher sews them on her industrial sewing machine with a zigzag stitch.

Important takeaways about the calf hoods?

“Hang them in the barn, so they smell like the barn and cows. We hang them on the fence where the cow is in labor so she can sniff them, or where the cows come to drink water. Neoprene has its own smell, but they’ll get used to it. Put them on after the calf is dry for about 24 hours, and then their ears should be safe. We’re making [the hoods] to last, so you won’t have to buy new ones for about ten years.”

May your Christmas calves’ ears stay warm during this holiday season. Merry Christmas!