Dead calf...

[Ebenezer]

The season and temperature should hold down calf weights at birth now through fall. If your heifers are fat (pones on tail head, ball in brisket) then the condition and feeding is an issue but I don't think that you can pull fat off of them quick enough to help anyway. If this heifer is fat she will be a gob of fat by next calving so I would cull. Success, for me, with heifers that misfire has always been poor. If you can check them before you go to work and see a heifer going into labor, I will tell you what I used to do or would still do, just to be sure. I'd get her up and pull the calf and then go to work knowing that the calf was born. It was and is not a common occurrence but it makes life simpler.

 

[Muddy]

I will give the heifer another chance.

 

[A.J.]

Sorry to hear that. It's always hard to lose one. I'm like you and work an off farm job too, and it's hard when you're not there to see one like that and know what actually happened. Don't beat yourself up. You never know, the calf may have been stillborn and there may have been nothing you could have done even if you were there. It's human nature to be concerned about your next calves after losing one, but I wouldn't think this would be an indicator of how the rest of your calving goes necessarily. Many will probably say cull her, but if it was me and you really like the heifer, I would give her another shot. I hope the rest of your calving goes smoothly, and you have a field full of healthy calves running around soon.

 

[Nesikep]

It could have been something like the water sac over the nose, and she didn't get up fast enough and lick the right end of the calf... I might well have lost one this year for that reason, from a heifer, if I hadn't been there

 

[lithuanian farmer]

Many things can happen. Had once a dead calf from a cow, maybe 6th calf for her. No idea why he was dead.
If you can, give the heifer another chance. In the past few years we'd three heifers with quite big dead calves. Gave another chance for all of them. One already is nursing her 3rd calf, another is nursing her 2nd calf. Unfortunately, the 3rd one will be culled as she ended up with one more huge dead calf. However, the other two have very nice calves and it'd be very pity if we've culled them after the first calving. It takes quite a lot of time, money and effort to grow a good heifer.

 

[Son of Butch]

I'd breed her back and then evaluate as to which direction to go.

 

[jerry27150]

how about vaccination program, seen some boughten ones all have dead calf. I never keep a cow that does not make me money every year, not a hobbiest

 

[Rniemann]

Seems to me that that is the nature of calving heifers. There will be problems, you can only hope to be there to help. I get it, had some of same issues w job. If she had the calf, she is better prepared for not year and would likely be s better bet than replacing her w another heifer. 80 pounds something sounds like a pretty good size calf for a heifer as well. She did most of the hard work... Got bred, stayed bred, calved, and likely is a milk producer. Did most things right. My thoughts

 

[TCRanch]

Calving out heifers is tricky and I don't envy you, not being able to check on them throughout the day - and night. Personally, I'd give her another chance if I really liked her because you really don't know what happened (malplaced, breech, umbilical cord detached, not mothering-up, successful calving then she stepped/fell on it . . . . . ). I've had seasoned cows with dead calves - bad stuff happens. And I'm sorry for your loss =(