Cow/Calving Kit Essentials

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I have in mine:
rope to rope the calf with.
banding tool with extra bands in my shirt pocket.
bottle of spray on betadine mixture.
pocket knife (always carry one)
hot shot shocker (just in case)
calf tape
usually try to take a bucket of feed with me also.
 
I keep a bucket with Lube/soap (slicker is better) OB chains, naval spray or Iodine, Paper towels/Old rages to wipe down the calf and in my pickup the Old calf jack just in case. And 21 years of jerking calves out in the cold weather,middle of the night, snow,sleet, rain. And a life time of luck. Good Luck to you also.
 
Iodine, teat cup for dipping navels, OB chains, OB gloves, lube, paper towels, heavy regualr towel, tagger & tags, pack of cigerettes. lighter and a bottle of coke. Knife in my pocket at all times.
 
Iodine / Betadine
OB sleeves
JB Lube
Bo-Se with 3cc syringes and needles
Rope
Tagger and tags
sling and scale (with pipe) for weight
OB chains and Dr Franks puller
pocket knife (always in my pocket)
3' long PVC pipe (keeps the protective cows away so I have room to work)
prolapse needle [ I've only used once ]
umbilical tape (3/8" thick) [again - only needed once so far ]
powdered colostrum, bottle, and nipple
tube (for tubing the calf - just in case)
 
everything that was mentioned here as well as an emrgency kit on the waist with:
Chains
knife
oxytocin
epinephrine
dophram
needles marked with dosage as well.

I use a red tool box, houses all the tools needed for any treatments and tagging and bagging which included in LA 200, nuflor, anafin, A/D/ and Esel, benadryl and asprin.
The rubbermaid tub holds the extra tags for the season, gloves, chains, lube, mineral oil, drench bag, electrolytes, powder colostrum, bottle, betadine (sp) solution
We calve almost half mile from home so we need everything at hand just in case.
 
Lube, calving tape and three light six-foot ropes. Examination gloves. Notebook and pen, calf taggers, tags, iodine. Bags of injectible calcium, oral calcium.

At one time I would have checked the cows with an examination glove in pocket, length of baling twine round waist (or calving tape in pocket), notebook, taggers and tags in other pocket and a bag of calcium left on the gate post. And all the fences and gates set up back to the vet chute at the milking shed.
But my own herd so rarely have problems the habit has been lost.

Extra first-milking colostrum at cowshed, refreshed every day.
 
I can't add anything, but you need to have everything that was mentioned just in case. Best investment I made was a new calf puller 4 years ago. Have only had to use is a couple of times.
 
OB Chains and Handles
Soap
Halter
Iodine
Tagger and Tags
Powdered Colostrum
Bottle and Nipple
Notebook and Pen
Weight Tape
Turkey Baster(for cleaning out nose and mouth, if needed)
Rags and Towels
 
Everything that was said before and also a good vet.
But the main thing is acouple shots of whiskey for those really tough days. :D
 
Normal calving bucket:
Shot of A&D, Shot of BoSe, Iodine in teat dip cup, tag & tagger. Scales & basket are in barn.
Have on hand:
Bottle, tuber, powdered colostrum & usually frozen colostrum. Pigging string & scaple. Paper towels.
For assisted calving:
OB gloves, lube. Rigged up a cyphon pump & tubes to pump lube inside the cow if needed (easier than trying to "carry" handfulls in (cheap from TSC).
OB chains & handles, rope to use as a "come-a-long" (like much better than a calf puller, which we do have upstairs in hayloft, unused for maybe 20 years). Oxytocin Bucket of disinfectant.
 
oh yeah forgot about the handles. And we do have a puller, homemade but it works and we have it hanging by the maternity pen. but husband prefers a stick. Either looped through the chains or through the triangle handles. He figures more control with a stick, easier to pull when the cow pushes. I however do not have his strength so if i need to i use the puller.
We went for years without using the puller. But since the last three winters have changed, and we seem to get real cold in the last trimester, pumping alot of feed into them, the calves seem to be bigger.
 
Two things Spotlight and Cell phone.

Spot light to check the heifers and cell phone to call the vet she married me her mistake. Why should I be the only one up in the middle of the night:)


Jeff

Actually she has all of the other stuff already mention in a case and a bucket.
 

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