Kalbungsdatum

Kalbungsdatum (German for "calving date") denotes the calendar day on which a female mammal, most commonly a cow, gives birth to a calf. As a basic element of individual animal records, the kalbungsdatum is used to track age, reproductive history, lactation start, and health events for both the dam and offspring.

Accurate recording of the kalbungsdatum supports herd management decisions such as breeding schedules, estimation of the next expected calving, milk production forecasting, and calculation of calving intervals. It is also important for neonatal care, vaccination timing, and monitoring of postpartum complications. In commercial and pedigree herds, calving dates are maintained in paper or electronic herd books, national databases, and farm management software; ear tags and digital identifiers help link the date to a specific animal.

The kalbungsdatum contributes to traceability systems and may be required by animal health or food safety regulations to assist disease control and product origin verification. On farms practicing seasonal or synchronized calving, aggregated calving dates inform labor planning and resource allocation. For breeders, calving records feed into evaluations of fertility, longevity, and genetic selection. While most commonly associated with cattle, the term can be applied to calving events in other ungulates and marine mammals where relevant.