Calving Heifers

[prairietrail45]

This year will be my first year calving heifers. I am buying a group of heifers that are all heavy bred (due in Feb/early March). They are bred to proven low birthweight/calving ease bulls. They are all good sized heifers (I would guess they weigh around 1100 avg). I've heard a lot of horror stories about calving heifers, which made me a bit apprehensive to buy heifers but with most of my herd being around 6 years old I wanted to add more young cows rather than more middle aged cows.

I guess what I am getting at, are heifers really the nightmare that some people make them out to be? What are some good tips/guidelines to go buy when watching them or helping them calve? The guy I am getting them from has not been pouring the feed to them, they get fed some to keep them coming in and they get high quality bermuda grass hay. They are all in good flesh, but should they continue to be grained until/after they calve? If so, what is an average amount per head to feed?

I've only had cows for about 6 years and have yet to deal with one with a malpositioned calf (I only had 5 cows until last year then increased to 20). I've had goats for a long time and have had just about every position imaginable from them, but of course goats are much smaller and the kids are much easier to maneuver around. I am planning to get a set of OB chains but am undecided on if I really need a puller (calf jack?) or not.

Any tips, hints or advice would be greatly appreciated The heifers will be pastured in a 5 acre lot that can be viewed from my bedroom window so I can keep a close eye on them.

 

[skyhightree1]

I don't grain them like trying to finish off a steer or anything to mine they eat grass or hay I keep salt blocks minerals and protein tubs out in the winter. The grain they get is a treat only so I can catch them easily or if they get out and see abucket they come running back in. I retain 99% of my heifers and had 2 first calf heifers calf today no issues i wasn't around. If they aren't in trouble I don't fool with them. It is always good to have stuff incase of an emergency. I like the calf puller that Highgrit has I need to buy one but I do have chains for pulling though. I do not think heifers are a nightmare and will gladly take any you do not want as long as they have a black hyde.

 

[randiliana]

In general, they are not a nightmare. Just need a little extra watching, and being prepared to help if needed. We are going to be calving our 140 first calvers this year. 16 of our own and custom calving the rest.

As far as grain goes, they really probably don't need any, but a little isn't going to hurt them. As long as you're feeding it in moderation I'm sure it won't be a problem.

I think the best thing is to know what problems can happen, how to fix them, and realize when you need help.
Here's a fairly short and concise read on it.
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department ... /agdex3451

You need somewhere you can safely restrain a cow if you need to, a headgate, a squeeze, or somewhere you can get a halter on and tie her up. If you don't already have this, I would highly recommend setting something up BEFORE these heifers start calving.

A few things to have on hand so you are prepared if you do have a problem
Phone # of your vet or someone who is experienced and will give you a hand if needed.
OB chains or straps AND Handles
OB gloves, these are good for both you and the cow
A bag of powdered colostrum or some frozen colostrum

And a calf puller is a nice thing to have, but maybe not required in your situation. I wouldn't be without it, but we are on a different scale than you are.

 

[dun]

The only issue that happens with heifers that doesn;t happen with cows is sometimes they just don;t go into labor like they should. They'll halfassed act like they are in labor but never really lay down and start pushing. Other than a malpresentation that's the only reason we mess with heifers.

 

[Nesikep]

In the last 20 years, I've only had one heifer *really* need help, she wasn't going to have a 110 lb bull calf on her own.. we all were a bit worse for wear after the ordeal, but we all survived it.

For the OB chains, I'd recommend getting 2 of them, I find on malpositioned calves it's far easier to work on the 2nd leg if you have a full length chain to work with, and yes, you definitely want good handles. We don't have a jack, and (cross fingers) we haven't needed it yet. Perhaps ask around to see who has one in your area and if they'd loan it out in an emergency.

 

[Supa Dexta]

And some yet will require a little more one on one time after delivery to get the calf sucking and her to stand and take to it.

You can pen them together and rub the calf with ground feed or molasses to get her licking it if need be.

If its a harder delivery and she doesn't want to get up right away, just drag the calf around front of her to clean it. Keep an eye on her, as she may be wobbly when she does go to get up and be ready to pull the calf away, and get yourself out of the way.. I've seen both a cow land squarely on a calf (it survived) and heard of one landing on the neighbour. (he also survived, but was there a while with his legs pinned.ha)

Feed wise they are probably fine, you can treat them better a couple weeks before and after they calve if you have it on hand. Also its good to have them walking around and using muscles to get ready for the big day.. But that said I've also had plenty tied up over winters, that do just fine too.

 

[shortybreeder]

I don't have time right now to read through all the previous posts, so I apologize if I'm repeating what someone else already said. I would recommend the calf puller because right now 1 calf is worth $1,000+ at weaning so if you only use that puller on 1 head in the coming years it will be paid for. :2cents:

 

[prairietrail45]

Thanks for all the advice. There is a large cattle ranch all around me and the guy that manages those cows has had a couple sets of heifers the last two years and he had a lot of trouble. Lots of heifers needing calves pulled and several of them not wanting to take care of their calves or having any milk and several of them had their calves too early. He's kind of the go-to guy if someone needs a calf pulled around here but I think he can get too rough, he's had heifers that were paralyzed and some that died right after the calf was pulled (one heifer tore up into her rectum and all her intestines came out :shock: ). I do realize things can happen, but this last calving season it seemed like he had a lot of problems. Out of about 120 heifers he had 30 or so in the cull pen.

I'm hoping these girls I just got will have very few problems and be productive for a long time. I do have a vet office that isn't far away. There are 3-4 vets in the office that work on cattle. I also have a chute and the pasture the heifers will be in is right off of the catch pens, they actually have to walk past the pens to get to water so that should help them be more comfortable if any of them need to be caught.

 

[dun]

Based on what you posted, he would be the very last guy I would call for a calving problem. Build a relationship with the vets, ir will pay dividends while you are learning about this stuff. A vet call is a whole lot cheper then a paralyzed or dead heifer/calf.

 

[Jessica06]

Based on what you posted, he would be the very last guy I would call for a calving problem. Build a relationship with the vets, ir will pay dividends while you are learning about this stuff. A vet call is a whole lot cheper then a paralyzed or dead heifer/calf.

X2

 

[Cowpuncher]

Whoever that guy is I would stay clear away, what a joke, man should be in prison. That kind of person makes my blood boil.

 

[shortybreeder]

Whoever that guy is I would stay clear away, what a joke, man should be in prison. That kind of person makes my blood boil.

No offense but your username makes MY blood boil.

 

[kjonesel]

I had a heifer calve about 3 1/2 years ago and went out and bought myself a puller. Even though I could borrow one 7 miles away we began pulling the calf and it locked at the hips. After 15 minutes locked at the hips I finally got it but the calf died several hours later. Since then I have never had to use it but assisted twice with it, it made things better in both cases. As I grew up on my father's dairy we probably pulled 100+ a year with the set we had. I have $300.00 invested and they are worth every cent.
The flip side is you have to have someone to help and if you have never used them before you could do more damage then good if you get in a hurry or if the cow is not dilated enough.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Whoever that guy is I would stay clear away, what a joke, man should be in prison. That kind of person makes my blood boil.

No offense but your username makes MY blood boil.

Cowpuncher is another name for cowboy, Gaucho.

 

[Cowpuncher]

Whoever that guy is I would stay clear away, what a joke, man should be in prison. That kind of person makes my blood boil.

No offense but your username makes MY blood boil.

Old timers in this area called each other cowpunchers, but no offense taken.

 

[shortybreeder]

Whoever that guy is I would stay clear away, what a joke, man should be in prison. That kind of person makes my blood boil.

No offense but your username makes MY blood boil.

Old timers in this area called each other cowpunchers, but no offense taken.

Thanks for the clarification. I've just met a lot of stupid kids who think it's funny that they can hit an animal without any recourse.

 

[highgrit]

Liberals make my blood boil.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Blood makes my blood boil.

 

[Black and Good]

If you don't have a calf puller, I've found that if you can keep her standing up, by putting pipe or something under her. Then have your OB chain on the legs, then take a long large log chain and hook it up high with slack in it where it loops downward. Then stand on it slowly putting more weight on it, it pulls down at about the right angle. If everything is set up right it works real well. Good luck. :cboy: B&G

 

[bigbull338]

we had a heifer surprise us and calve yesterday.she had a nice small calf on her own.she was bred to a beefmaster bull.all our cows are getting is protine tubbs and hay.we do watch the heifers real close.most of our heifers calve as 2yrs olds.