Beginners silly question

[deaconcreek]

Our heifer calved on 2/19, it was a stillbirth, placenta and sac came first. This is our first year calving and this may seem like a silly common sence question, but I noticed last night that this heifer has some blood and goo on her and her tail. Since she passed the afterbirth first and has shown nothing else since, is this normal? She is still alittle swolen, and her milk seems to be drying up, is there any reason for me to be concerned, or is this normal? She is still on feed and acting normal.

 

[bigbull338]

from the way your talking it sounds like she is still cleaning out.from what you say is on her rearend.an she is acting normal.

 

[msscamp]

Our heifer calved on 2/19, it was a stillbirth, placenta and sac came first.

What you saw appear first was probably the water bags, not the placenta - it doesn't pass until after the calf is born usually.


This is our first year calving and this may seem like a silly common sence question, but I noticed last night that this heifer has some blood and goo on her and her tail. Since she passed the afterbirth first and has shown nothing else since, is this normal? She is still alittle swolen, and her milk seems to be drying up, is there any reason for me to be concerned, or is this normal? She is still on feed and acting normal.

No, it's not a silly question. Retained placenta has the potential to cause some nasty infections and can cause serious problems for the animal. Sounds like she is finishing up cleaning the placenta and it's normal. They usually have goo on their tails and rear ends for a few days, sometimes longer depending on the circumstances of the birth, after calving. Keep an eye on her and if she goes off feed, starts looking or acting like she doesn't feel good, or if you smell something nasty while around her call your vet. Just my thoughts.

 

[deaconcreek]

Thanks for the reassurance, that all is normal. I was concered because it had been 10 days since she had calved, and I didn't know if that was too long for her to finish cleaning out. I will keep an eye on her.

 

[milkmaid]

Normal. Have one here that left traces of fresh blood on the straw where she bedded down this morning; she calved 9 days ago.

 

[dun]

Thanks for the reassurance, that all is normal. I was concered because it had been 10 days since she had calved, and I didn't know if that was too long for her to finish cleaning out. I will keep an eye on her.

Some will clean for a couple of weeks, and with the stillbirth that may have thrown another turd in the pot to delay things a bit.

dun