first time calving

[lakeviewwalker]

Please excuse my ignorance I lived on a dairy farm as a child but that was 30 years ago and don't remember everything and a lot I didn't pay attention too. So now I have some beef heifers due to calve in 7 weeks and one had a large string of clear mucus hanging from it yesterday for most if the day. Does this mean anything and is there anything I need to be concerned about like premature calf being born or anything else

 

[dun]

Here's the deal. Usually the mucus plug is kind of sticky and can be shed from a day to a couple of months before calving. The calving mucus stuff is much thinner and won;t hand in long strands, but it does sling all over the place when they shake their tail. The mucus plug is generally not clear, kind of milky, the calving mucus is usually clear. So based on all that, it's probably the mucus plug.

 

[kucala5]

Good luck! What I will say about heifers, with little experience myself, is keep a close eye. The horror stories I've read on this forum made me especially careful with mine this year and had I not been, would have lost a calf and maybe the mama too. Frazier was a hard pull just in time. Still one heifer to go and she is getting close and kept in the lot at night for due diligence.