45ish days early

[ABrauny]

So I had a 3 year old calve out a pair of twin heifers last night about 45 days or so early, give or take a few days. My question is what kind of concerns might there be about WHY a cow calved so early? The calves came out easy enough, not very big, they appear to be healthy although I'd like to see them moving around a bit more, although they're barely 14 hours old as of 2pm.

 

[chippie]

Are you sure about your breeding dates? 45 days is almost 7 weeks premature.

 

[randiliana]

I'm with chippie on that. That's a little early for live calves!

 

[ABrauny]

Yeah it doesn't seem to compute to me either. That's the last time I listen to my vet telling me how far bred my cows are. :bang:

 

[redcowsrule33]

How far along were your cows when you had them checked?

 

[Black and Good]

I had a set of twins this year off a breeding I saw. They were 30 days early and I found them both dead. Looked fully developed but small, and their hair was real short. I don't know but, I think they have to be 265 along to survive. I had a first calf heifer have a calf on groundhog day that was A.I.ed, calf was born at 270 days never looked good or very healthy died at month old? :bang: I've lost 6 so far this year. Starting to think bout what year this is 20"13". B&G

 

[ABrauny]

Redcows, they were about 4 months along when checked, at least according to the vet, looks like they were a little further along than that.

 

[Cattleman200]

The vet probably felt the calfs head or body and it felt like a 4 month old calf. I bet he didnt say she was having twins did he? He was basing the 4 months on the size calf he felt which was probably the correct think to do at the time. Thats what I think but it may not be what happened.Now if you AI`ed and have an actual breeding date, thats a different story.


Circle H Ranch

 

[KNERSIE]

The vet probably felt the calfs head or body and it felt like a 4 month old calf. I bet he didnt say she was having twins did he? He was basing the 4 months on the size calf he felt which was probably the correct think to do at the time. Thats what I think but it may not be what happened.Now if you AI`ed and have an actual breeding date, thats a different story.


Circle H Ranch

At 4 moths it would be impossible to tell if its twins and a fault of 1 month either way would be very easy to make and very acceptable.

All that said twins are usually born 2-3 weeks early.

 

[Cattleman200]

by KNERSIE » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:13 am

Cattleman200 wrote:
The vet probably felt the calfs head or body and it felt like a 4 month old calf. I bet he didnt say she was having twins did he? He was basing the 4 months on the size calf he felt which was probably the correct think to do at the time. Thats what I think but it may not be what happened.Now if you AI`ed and have an actual breeding date, thats a different story.


Circle H Ranch

At 4 moths it would be impossible to tell if its twins and a fault of 1 month either way would be very easy to make and very acceptable.

All that said twins are usually born 2-3 weeks early.

Actually it is not likely to find twins at 4 months but it is certainly not Impossible to find them when checking a cow. Like I stated above the vet felt a smaller calf, hence called for an earlier pregnancy than was actually inside the cow. Also, the majority of twin pregnancies that are 30 days or more premature are born dead.


Circle H Ranch

 

[ABrauny]

No the doc did not tell me she was going to have twins, it just caught me off guard, she was bred natural service.

 

[redcowsrule33]

If you want better accuracy check by 60-75 days and use the ultrasound. With twins and checking that far along, I'm not surprised she is that early at all. Once they get further along it's just a guess based on head, foot, cotyledon size, or size of the arteries, unless you have a breeding date.