2022, here we go again!

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Lazy M said:
That cow deserves a half bucket of grain!
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She got it yesterday!
Forgot to mention the whole story about the calving. Saw cow lying with signs of calving at 7am. No straining seen, but she had a pool of slimmy liquid at her back end on the ground. A sign that she indeed has started calving. Left her for two hours as had some other work to do and didn't wanted to bother her. Came to check her at 9am. Nothing out, just she changed her spot. No progress in so much time meant that there was something wrong. Stuck my arm in and felt that calf's water bag was still intact, but could feel only one foot and the head. Called my mom to bring the rope to tie the cow to the tree that she wouldn't walk away and the calving jack. Tied the cow to the tree and went un to fix the leg. It was an easy fix, as the calf still wasn't in the pelvic area. That seemed suspicious to me and I had a thought that it could show that a calf is quite a heavy one. Decided to assiste her as there were no straining and she might have been in labor for quite long. Had some work with the jack, but at least both are alive and welll. Cow stood up right away after we pulled the calf out and the calf hinself is very allert and strong for his size. Alot of big calves tend to be lazy and not nurse at first, or even not stand up for a day or several.
 
branxchar&charx said:
Oh my... How did u find that?
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Saw alot of thick mucus coming out of one cow's vulva while she was lying. Not sure why but pulled it slightly and the whole mass came out easily. I often check the consistency of mucus on cows, which are in heat too. A white string like thing became noticable instead of a mucus. Slightly pulled that and the fetus went into my hand. It seems that the mucus was a mucous plug coming out and I just made it abit quicker. Not a nice thing to see... Now it should take around a month for cow to come back inheat I think. She will loose some time this time.
 
lithuanian farmer said:
Saw alot of thick mucus coming out of one cow's vulva while she was lying. Not sure why but pulled it slightly and the whole mass came out easily. I often check the consistency of mucus on cows, which are in heat too. A white string like thing became noticable instead of a mucus. Slightly pulled that and the fetus went into my hand. It seems that the mucus was a mucous plug coming out and I just made it abit quicker. Not a nice thing to see... Now it should take around a month for cow to come back inheat I think. She will loose some time this time.
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Definitely sucks. Hopefully she'll breed back quickly and keep it this time.
 
Jeanne - Simme Valley said:
Amazing you found that!!!
Do you castrate your bull calves? I seem to remember you finish out bulls for meat??
Would you sell/use a bull with heavy bw?
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No, do not castrate.
Would I use a bull with bigger bw - yes (I already did it, but on selected cows), would I sell a pure bull- it depends from the breed and bull's bw itself. If it's charolais and 110lbs, then not a problem, but giving a clear info to the future owner and making sure he understands what I say. However, alot of bulls sold from the local farmers here have bigger birth weights that what I would consider an average bw for a breed. Would never sell a bull with HUGE bw for breeding. Have seen too many not the smartest cattle owners and when dealing with big bw you have to be smart and know when the cow can handle the calving and when it's too much for her. Plus you can never breed the whole herd to those big bw bulls. You need to know your herd as good as yourself or better and make decision based on that. Noticed that alot of people are just expecting luck at such situations. A couple weeks ago had a case, where owners didn't knew for sure how long the cow was calving, but said that maybe for two or three days... It already sounds awfull, but in reality the cow was in labor for ~6 days, as the calf was dead inside for good 3-4 days. They have been farming for 20+years and still couldn't tell that something was extremely wrong. Give them a bigger bw bull and they would loose all their cows in a year. So yeah, keeping big bw bulls for myself only, if I ever gonna have a pure bull like that, or just fattening him for beef.
 
A heavy boy and today born bull calf for some size comparison.
IMG_20220510_193434.jpg

Yesterday calved cow with AI sired heifer calf. Cow-11years old, but has one of the most pretty udder from the whole herd. Can't stop admiring it every time I walk pass her. Will need to make a better photo tomorrow. Dairy influence showing, but from the good side.
IMG_20220509_185310.jpg
Screenshot_20220510_213817_com.android.gallery3d.jpg
 
Finally some others started popping. 283 or 285days gestation, AI'ed twice, vrb sired heifer calf from my own cow, around 90-95lbs.
IMG_20220514_211132.jpg

There is one cow on 289 days, one on 285, one on 284, one on 282 and one on 275 days gestation. More calves should be here soon. One heifer is due on the 28th, but she seems way closer. There are four cows and heifers in total due on the 28th. Not bad for natural heats.
 
The sire of the calf. Used conventional semen, not sexed. Still got a heifer 🤦‍♀️
Screenshot_20220515_193343_com.huawei.browser.jpg
He seems to have had very good growth for 200 and 365 days.
Screenshot_20220515_193358_com.huawei.browser.jpg
One more his calf is due on the 1st of June.
 
Another calf today. Bull calf from our oldest cow. 287 days gestation, 7/8 charolais. Around 95lbs or so.
IMG_20220517_185853.jpg

Have moved a bigger half of cows on grass today. Very cold spring, so not much of grass, but still have to move them out already. All, except three calved cows, and all cows due untill the end of June are on grass already. Those three freshly calved ones, cows due past the end of June and first calf heifers will be moved out in a couple days.
IMG_20220517_170254.jpg
Plan to put a new bull with the first group of cows in July, then move him to the second group in August. Hopefully will be able to fix calving season lenght for a bit and have no summer calves next year.
 
lithuanian farmer said:
An unexpected and not nice finding this morning.
View attachment 16519
49 days after AI...
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Sad that she lost the pregnancy; amazing that you were able to get it out in such complete condition. Interesting to see how much it was already developed at 49 days. At least at this soon, she should be able to get back in shape and breed back without too many problems. Hope she catches quick and does okay with the next one.
 
farmerjan said:
Sad that she lost the pregnancy; amazing that you were able to get it out in such complete condition. Interesting to see how much it was already developed at 49 days. At least at this soon, she should be able to get back in shape and breed back without too many problems. Hope she catches quick and does okay with the next one.
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She should do okay. Just sad that she'll loose some time and it would have been a charolais calf... Not sure if it would have been better if I didn't knew what happened and saw a surprise heat instead of seeing a fetus, which would have been a calf in the future. Now it's pretty much the same feeling as loosing a calf at birth.
 

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