Calved: no bag

[JJ27]

Our calving season started on Monday and we have had 5 healthy beef calves born since then. Calf number 5 was a surprise though because his Dam did not appear to be bagging up at all. This is her 4th calf and normally she bags up nicely. Any ideas on why this happened? I don't think it's a feed related thing because all the other cows with calves on the ground bagged up good.

I've seen the calf sucking a few times but he bounces from teat to teat a lot so between that and the small udder, I'm wondering about her milk supply. He seems spunky though. He is about 18 hrs old so if he hasn't really gotten a good meal I would think he would look weak by now?

Also...its been raining all afternoon and sounds like it will continue most of the night. It's not too cold (45 today, 32 tonight) so I haven't been worried about the calves that have been hanging out outside today but at what point is too long for them to be wet without drying off? The shed is bedded nicely but they won't stay in it (well besides the newest baby).

Thanks for any expertise and advice!

 

[SBMF 2015]

I would get that cow in that doesn't have much of a bag in and check her out. A shot of oxytocin might still help her out.
My calves get turned out to pasture after 3or4 days depending on how fast they are coming. I have a "calf hotel" in the pasture . It's a low shed 8'x12' well bedded that the calves can get in but not the cows. As long as I keep it dry in their it takes the new turn out about a day to figure out where to go. It's rained for two days and when I checked this morning, 10 calves ran out of the shed.
A peace of old bale feeder flipped upside down works good to section off part of a barn. The calves go through but the cows can't.
Good Luck.

 

[Dsth]

I have had cows that repeatedly calf with little or no udder filled out. they usually fill out after a couple of days with no intervention. If the calf seems active and healthy, I would not worry about it. If the cow is not producing enough milk, the calf would not have drank enough colostrum by now to protect itself. If you can get the calf in and try to bottle feed it, that would indicate whether it is getting enough milk. About the calves being outside. the cow should be able to take care of their babies. if a cow thinks the calf needs more protection from the weather, they will encourage the calf to go inside. At least a cow with good mothering ability will do that.

 

[Katpau]

The temperatures you describe (32 to 45) would be a normal range for many calving in my part of Oregon in early to mid February. Continuous rain is often the normal and no artificial cover is also the normal. Extreme cold and snow are rare here. With the exception of calves who don't get up and suck right away, those conditions don't seem to bother the calves and I would not be worried. Last year we had about 2 feet of very wet snow during the peak of calving at the end of February. This was an extremely unusual event, and I expected heavy loses. We only lost one calf and I don't think that one was even weather related. Most of these cows and calves went unseen for several days after calving because we were unable to get up into the areas of the pasture where they took refuge. I could hardly believe it, as one after the other, they eventually showed up for hay with a healthy live calf.

I would be more concerned if the wet cold conditions were accompanied by high winds. We do have forest in our pastures where the cows can go to get out of the wind. A wind block of some sort, should work where natural cover is unavailable.