Calving Guesses

[TexasJerseyMilker]

I have a 14 year old pet Jersey that is 287 days bred (jerseys go to about 285) At her age this a high risk pregnancy. I raised her from a calf and had always wished to get a Jersey heifer from her but this was not to be. All the bulls on the ranch were Angus. Then I brought her from Texas and she last calved 2 years ago (to another angus). Also, she was fat. Then I found out it is possible to AI for a heifer calf. So I prayed Lord, thy will be done and decided to try and got her to lose weight. But I never saw another heat period so I thought she was too old. But by some miracle she came into heat and was bred, confirmed by palpation.

I've been keeping Daphne in the front yard for the past week. She frequently comes and looks in the window. In this time her vulva has gotten looser and swollen, sometimes has some clear mucus and she has made bag. But I could still feel her tailhead ligaments. Worried something might be wrong I have been going out several times a night with a flash light and wait on her hand and foot. Well, this morning her bag is even bigger and her tailhead ligaments can no longer be felt. My husband says leave her alone now, watch her from a distance. When do you think the calf will come? In the next 24 hours?

 

[Trixie Club Calves]

I must be getting old... I check twice a day when they are getting close to expected due date... then monitor as I watch their actions... I don't panic over what they look like so much as attention to actions.... and I try to make sure that the heifers are grown out enough that a decent sized calf should not present a problem. We don't pelvic measure, but I do use easy calving bulls on heifers... and I have pulled one calf in 15 years from a heifer that only had 1 leg out... and helped one cow with a backwards, hind feet first, to get it out faster... and everything was fine once delivered. There are always the possibility of some problem... but I do not panic with constant checking and bothering them all the time. I don't get upset over due dates and going over either... they will have them when they have them.. If I see a possible problem, then I take immediate measures... brought to the barn or somewhere if she needs help... and figuring out what the problem is and intervening as soon as possible...
But counting time and checking constantly.... nope.....
We don't do anything like @Silver or @gcreekrch or some of the others, in regards to calving numbers... but I just try to let nature do her job and help if needed... I cannot babysit them 24/7.

I know when the bulls went in, so their "starting due date"... start watching a few days ahead, and know when the bull came out and when they should be done.... I have a list of how far he says they are when they are ultrasounded... so watch the furthest along ones closer....

We have a group that the vet preg checked... told my son that Feb 23rd was their starting date... got 2 on the ground yesterday.... and one is probably 3 days old that he thought he saw, then never could find the calf... momma hid him good for 2 days.... There are 8 first calf heifers in there....and about 30 cows... about 30-35 cows in another field ... check for new calves every morning and to see who looks like what....keep an eye out but do what needs doing, check again in the evening.... no checking with flashlights and such...

My cows are all clubby cows or Recip cows carrying clubby embryos, and given that a LOT more problems arise with clubbys. Even if you breed a clubby heifer to a super low birthweight bull the calf can come out huge. And with recips, ET calves come out 10-20% bigger. Usually meaning anywhere from upper 90 to 120 pound calves. So we keep a vet close eye cause it's a lot more likely we need to pull calves cause there too big. And they are all AI'd, don't own any bulls so they don't have a due date range.

I also am always messing with them, and petting on them. So me checking on them is the farthest thing from bothering them. They love the attention, in fact they walk over to me when I go check them.

I've also had calves born 2 weeks early quite a bit. We had one born earlier this week (24th) that was due March 9th. Last year we had a calf born March 16th that was due April 4th.

 

[Trixie Club Calves]

I have a 14 year old pet Jersey that is 287 days bred (jerseys go to about 285) At her age this a high risk pregnancy. I raised her from a calf and had always wished to get a Jersey heifer from her but this was not to be. All the bulls on the ranch were Angus. Then I brought her from Texas and she last calved 2 years ago (to another angus). Also, she was fat. Then I found out it is possible to AI for a heifer calf. So I prayed Lord, thy will be done and decided to try and got her to lose weight. But I never saw another heat period so I thought she was too old. But by some miracle she came into heat and was bred, confirmed by palpation.

I've been keeping Daphne in the front yard for the past week. She frequently comes and looks in the window. In this time her vulva has gotten looser and swollen, sometimes has some clear mucus and she has made bag. But I could still feel her tailhead ligaments. Worried something might be wrong I have been going out several times a night with a flash light and wait on her hand and foot. Well, this morning her bag is even bigger and her tailhead ligaments can no longer be felt. My husband says leave her alone now, watch her from a distance. When do you think the calf will come? In the next 24 hours?

View attachment 54984

I bet she's really close!! for healthy mom and baby. You'll have to keep us updated!

 

[Trixie Club Calves]

Poor girl is over it! She's was acting quite a big agitated, swishing her tale, holding her tale to the side for a little bit. Then just went back to normal

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

Well, my old cow sure looked like she would calf today. This morning she had a lot of mucus dripping down the back of her udder, did not want to move much, sometimes holding out her tail. And I thought I could not feel the tailhead ligaments. She spent long times lying down. Then about noon she stood up and started acting normal. Walking around, eating, ruminating. I guess the calf was just repositioning. Last year the AI guy was over and felt of my young cow's ligaments and he said Any minute. But she did not have the calf until the next day. She was a first calf heifer though.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

It's dark. I just went out and she is lying by the house with mucus dribbling out of her vulva. My husband says check her again in 2 hours.

 

[Trixie Club Calves]

Well, my old cow sure looked like she would calf today. This morning she had a lot of mucus dripping down the back of her udder, did not want to move much, sometimes holding out her tail. And I thought I could not feel the tailhead ligaments. She spent long times lying down. Then about noon she stood up and started acting normal. Walking around, eating, ruminating. I guess the calf was just repositioning. Last year the AI guy was over and felt of my young cow's ligaments and he said Any minute. But she did not have the calf until the next day. She was a first calf heifer though.

They always start acting suspicious and then go right back to normal lol. Some of our cows have mucus for a couple weeks up to calving.

 

[wbvs58]

It's dark. I just went out and she is lying by the house with mucus dribbling out of her vulva. My husband says check her again in 2 hours.

I would get her in and have a feel. A breech calf will be like that with nothing appearing.

Ken

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

OK, my husband can do that.

 

[Trixie Club Calves]

 

[wbvs58]

OK, my husband can do that.

Great, probably all good but many breech births we get to too late.

Ken

 

[Trixie Club Calves]

I'm starting to think this cow is closer than the heifer… she's a 4 year old. Her bag looks pretty full today

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

Had my old cow checked. The calf is alive and not breech. He said not probably not tonight but tomorrow or the next day. I was glad to feel her moving because I was afraid she had died. I'm like a hovering anxious grandma.

This is her previous calf from 2 years ago.

 

[Trixie Club Calves]

Had my old cow checked. The calf is alive and not breech. He said not probably not tonight but tomorrow or the next day. I was glad to feel her moving because I was afraid she had died. I'm like a hovering anxious grandma.
View attachment 55069
This is her previous calf from 2 years ago.

That's great! Keep us updated when she finally decides to have it

 

[Trixie Club Calves]

Our girl is still cooking that baby

 

[Dave]

I have a bunch of old cows out in the field. Some you look at and think she will calf tonight. Turns out to be 2 or 3 weeks from tonight. Some you look at and think it will be 2 or 3 weeks. Then there is a new calf the next morning. I have come to the conclusion that when you see feet sticking out she will be calving real soon.

 

[Trixie Club Calves]

I have a bunch of old cows out in the field. Some you look at and think she will calf tonight. Turns out to be 2 or 3 weeks from tonight. Some you look at and think it will be 2 or 3 weeks. Then there is a new calf the next morning. I have come to the conclusion that when you see feet sticking out she will be calving real soon.

Haha true that. They'll calve when they're ready.

 

[Trixie Club Calves]

Still cooking that baby, pictures from today

 

[Trixie Club Calves]

Welp…. She's still cooking the baby. Making sure it's very well done I guess .

We've had 2 babies in the meantime.

 

[Trixie Club Calves]

I was talking to her past owners (we bought her last fall as a bred heifer) they said she was AI'd and due March 3rd. I reached out to them to see if that was right. They said she was out with a bull after being AI'd. But when vet ultrasound her they called her between the AI and when she would've cycled back to be bred by bull. (If that makes sense) so the date the vet called didn't really ad up to either dates. They said when they call them a little after AI they usually go with that they got AI'd. But they've never had a heifer go a week overdue so they think she probably got bred by the bull…
If she got bred by bull she'd be due around March 20th