1st calf heifer questions

[tnwalkingred]

All,

I have a 1st calf heifer that is due to calve in a couple of weeks. The farm I have her on is where she will reside for the next year however I don't have a working chute at this farm. My question is this. Should I take her to the farm with the working chute till after she calves in case she has trouble and then bring her and the calf back, or should I just leave her at home and then deal with the issue IF it comes up? If I took her to the farm with the working chute I'm worried the calf might get injured on the haul back home. I also would like to weigh the calf at birth and I think I will use a piece of plywood and a bathroom scale. Any better suggestions? Would you guys recommend I tag the calf at birth or wait? Are there any other things I need to do once it's born? Thanks in advance for all your help. First timer here.

 

[dun]

I would leave her where she is, the vast majority of heifers if properly slected, bred and fed won;t have any issues at calving. I like ot tag at birth but some folks don;t bother. If she is the only calf then there isn;t much of a point. If the claves on grass and not mud/manure I wouldn;t do anything with the calf. If she calves on mud/manure I would soak the navel with iodine. If you have had issues with scours on that farm I would also give the calf a dose of calfgaurd (orally) at birth.

 

[3waycross]

It would be much easier to buy a weight tape and us it than to try to weigh the way you are suggesting. Otherwise listen to what Dun says!

 

[tnwalkingred]

Thanks Dun! She is bred to a low BW bull so hopefully she won't have any trouble. She is in good shape but not fat in my opinion. I keep good hay in front of them all the time and feed 4 lbs of grain every few days to keep them coming up and gentle. I don't have any issues on the farm and will move her to a 8 acre lot in a few days that has been "resting" all winter while we feed hay. I only have one other heifer at the farm however she will not calve until the fall.

3way, I am not familiar with a weigh tape. How does it work exactly? Would it be more accurate than the scale?

 

[tnwalkingred]

Here is picture of the heifer that's gonna calf in a couple of weeks. I think her due date is 4/22/13. Let me know what you think.

 

[3waycross]

They sell them at the feed and farm store and no usually a scale is more accurate but in the case of a bathroom scale you are better off with the weight tape. And stop graining that heifer. She does not look overconditioned but i would not give her another bite of grain before she calves.

 

[Lucky_P]

Sure, most will calve out uneventfully - but things don't always go as planned. What's your plan if you need to provide some assistance?
You don't have to have a chute - and I prefer NOT to pull calves with the cow in the chute or alleyway, in case she goes down in the process - but a pen is pretty handy.

Had one last week, a nice well-grown ANxSH heifer, with low BW and high MCE in her background, bred to a high CED/low BW sire - and I've had several calves by him (one out of a 3/4 sib of this heifer), so was comfortable with the probable CE/BW.
Saw her before I left for work and felt pretty sure she'd calve sometime that day. It was a pretty big calf, and in spite of that, I have no doubt that she'd have had it just fine on her own - but it came with one leg back a bit, elbow caught on the rim of the pelvis. By the time I got home from work and found her in trouble, the calf was dead. I'm no hand with a rope, and couldn't catch her, even though she's relatively tame. Had to toll her - and about half of the rest of the herd - back through 3 paddocks to the lane running back to the barnlot and drive her a half mile back to the corral where I could catch her and get the calf out.

Commercial cattle here - nothing registered(anymore); I've not seen any need to weigh a calf at birth - if they're alive, nursing, and moving around OK, I don't need to know how much they weighed (and nobody cares). Have done 'em in the past, with the bathroom scale and a sheet of plywood - but you may have to have a second person to read the scale - I never could see over my belly and the calf to get the reading. lol

 

[herofan]

I would leave her where she is, the vast majority of heifers if properly slected, bred and fed won;t have any issues at calving.

I have heifers, and I'm glad to hear that opinion. Some people act like heifers are nothing but trouble and that a person is crazy to buy heifers instead of older cows.

 

[tnwalkingred]

I do have a catch pen lucky. I believe I'll just put her in the separate lot this week and throw my corral panels in a corner of the field. She is really gentle and comes running to feed. If she has trouble I should be able to get her into it. I'll post pics of the new baby when it's here.

 

[Lucky_P]

That oughta work; I'd leave her be.
Sometimes wish I had a portable pen - seems like every time I have one that needs assistance, I have to drive/toll 'em a half-mile or more to the corral.

 

[Kscattle]

I would leave her where she is, the vast majority of heifers if properly slected, bred and fed won;t have any issues at calving.

I have heifers, and I'm glad to hear that opinion. Some people act like heifers are nothing but trouble and that a person is crazy to buy heifers instead of older cows.

Someone has to calve em their first time, I keep heifers every year and don't do anything different with them as I do with my cows. BUT, I know what their bred to, I would be cautious buying hfrs at a sale barn, not knowing the breeding or bull BW and ced. If bought from a breeder that has good stock, I would not hesitate getting bred hfrs but that's just me. Any cow at a given time can have trouble depending on the circumstances.

 

[shadyhollownj]

I got a 2x2 steel plate with a ten dollar walmart digital scale. Used it for years and never had a problem. I have reg stock so I wanna know exactly not the old looks like 80 but really 95. I have used tapes for steers and they are pretty close once you get used to them as far as condition. Never used them for calves.

 

[tnwalkingred]

Here's a couple of pictures of my new baby calf that prompted the start of this discussion. Found the calf on the morning of 4/20/13. Mama and baby are doing great. Calf is a heifer and weighed in at 69.6 pounds. I used the cheap digital scale method with a piece of plywood and it worked great. Thanks for all the good information everyone shared. I cut the heifers daily feed down from four to two pounds a day the last 30 days before she calved. Had my catch pen all setup but was really thankful I didn't need it!

 

[M5farm]

looks goods and it seems as if you like blk and white.

 

[tnwalkingred]

M5Farm,

Yeah I've always been partial to black and white animals. Guess it all started years ago when I developed a love for Spotted Saddle horses. Now my horses, cattle, and dogs all look the same! LOL