Calving Season So far

[tsellars]

So I have a small farm of 20ish mama cows depending on the year. Normally don’t have much calving trouble outside of the rare breech or oddball situation. This year however has been a little different, have lost 4 out of the first 13. 3 just flat out born dead and the one today was breech and dead by the time we got it pulled. It has been terribly dry here for the last two months, started feeding a little hay a couple of weeks ago. So my question is will it being this dry be a contributing factor to my calving issues or do I have something else going on? Calves are all full term and appear normal from the outside.

Other factor would be the bull I used last year. I rent a bull from a reputable local guy. Bull was semen and trict tested the day I picked him up, 2 year old bull that had never been on cows before.

I vaccinate yearly with Bovi Shield FP5 VL5 after calving and prior to bull turn out. Cows get round of multi min at this time as well.

Have spoken to my vet and working on getting him some samples to test. Just wondering if someone else has experienced anything like this?

 

[coachg]

I feel your pain and frustration. That’s a big loss especially at today’s market prices. Plus I’m an old softy and just hate losing a baby ! Could be the bull , could be the health of your cows , weather conditions, or just one of those years of just bad luck . I’ve had my worst year this year . I know of 9 we have lost ; one set of twins . But we calved about 110 momma cows . Still too many ! My grandpa use to say if you have them you going to lose them. Still don’t make me sleep any better !

 

[TCRanch]

Sorry to hear that. Neospora would be my first guess. Your vet can test the calves & cattle. And unfortunately, there is no vaccination.

 

[bird dog]

So in your opinion, what is the body score of your cows? Thin from a drought can be a problem.

 

[tsellars]

My other theory I keep coming back to is the hay. Never fed hay during calving as we usually go until December with grass. But the hay we have fed was 2nd cutting that had a lot of johnsongrass in it. It wasn’t fertilized after the 1st cutting but was fertilized well early spring. Thinking it might be high in nitrates as it was drought stressed when cut……just thinking out loud

 

[tsellars]

So in your opinion, what is the body score of your cows? Thin from a drought can be a problem.

IMO they are all 5’s or 6’s. They never got thin or started losing weight.

 

[kenny thomas]

My other theory I keep coming back to is the hay. Never fed hay during calving as we usually go until December with grass. But the hay we have fed was 2nd cutting that had a lot of johnsongrass in it. It wasn’t fertilized after the 1st cutting but was fertilized well early spring. Thinking it might be high in nitrates as it was drought stressed when cut……just thinking out loud

I doubt its the hay. Millions of calves are born to cows on hay each year.
If its been more than 90 days since you fertilized i doubt its the Johnson Grass also.

 

[gcreekrch]

Sorry to hear that. Neospora would be my first guess. Your vet can test the calves & cattle. And unfortunately, there is no vaccination.

Doesn’t Neospora usually show up much earlier in gestation. We deal with it some here, usually in our heifers and usually in second trimester.

 

[TCRanch]

Doesn’t Neospora usually show up much earlier in gestation. We deal with it some here, usually in our heifers and usually in second trimester.

Abortion generally occurs within 4-7 months, but stillbirths are common, and calves can be born alive, but unhealthy.

 

[tsellars]

We had a big tornado come through back in March, ef4, it was a mess. Knocked almost 500 trees down on our 100 acres. After talking around with some of the neighbors, the farms that took a good amount of damage are having an increase in calves being stillborn. Any theories on this other than just a major disruption in the ground and landscape?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Cows have access to some toxic plants?

 

[Travlr]

What are the birth weights? And the weights of the cows? Unusually different from other years?

 

[tsellars]

Cows have access to some toxic plants?

None that I’m aware of. Mint weed is a big issue here when it’s dry but don’t have much in the field they are in.

 

[tsellars]

What are the birth weights? And the weights of the cows? Unusually different from other years?

75lbs give or take. Cows are 1300-1400lbs. Nothing drastically different from other years

 

[Travlr]

75lbs give or take. Cows are 1300-1400lbs. Nothing drastically different from other years

Small for the size of the cows, but not small enough to be out of the normal range nowadays.

 

[coachg]

Have they been eating pine needles ? Seems like I read or heard it could cause stillborn calves .

 

[tsellars]

Have they been eating pine needles ? Seems like I read or heard it could cause stillborn calves .

We don’t have a pine tree on the place.

 

[tsellars]

I doubt its the hay. Millions of calves are born to cows on hay each year.
If its been more than 90 days since you fertilized i doubt its the Johnson Grass also.

Just following up on this, but you were right. Hay was perfectly fine and actually tested out as decent quality.

 

[mwj]

Just following up on this, but you were right. Hay was perfectly fine and actually tested out as decent quality.

Thanks for the feedback. That is what makes this board useful to folks. How are your calves doing?

 

[tsellars]

Calves that all made it are doing really well(knock on wood). We grafted a couple of bottle calves, they are a little behind but no surprise there. I’ll try to take a few pics. Thanks for asking.