Getting ready for problems with calf

[travlnusa]

Heifer is due next week.

She is on the smaller size, while her gut looks to be the size of North Dakota. I have chains ready if needed, but have not used them.

1) If the bottom of the hooves are pointed up, how do you know if they are the front or back legs?

2) How long after you see a pair of legs, would you step in to assist?

3) Where on the exposed legs do you wrap the chains?

4) Do you pull only when cow is pushing?

If I dont see any legs, or only one leg once stong labor has started, how long until I need a vet on site knowing it will be at 2am on a Sunday and it will take some time for them to arrive?

 

[randiliana]

First off, relax a bit, 9 times out of 10 those little heifers that you are worried about pop out a little calf.

1. If the feet are upside down, you reach in, follow the leg up to the knee/hock joint, if the joint bends the same way as the fetlock joint, you have front feet, if it bends opposite you have hind feet. Or, if all else fails, feel for the tail, or head. After all you have to have one or the other coming before you can pull.

2. With a heifer, after the water bag (amniotic sac) breaks give her about an hour. As long as she is making progress she is fine.

3. Putting chains on, put the first loop above the fetlock joint, then make a half hitch below the fetlock.

4. Pull when the cow pushes, hold/keep tension on when she rests.

Once she has the waterbag you should see some progress within half an hour. If there is still nothing showing it is a good idea to check her out. It isn't uncommon for only one hoof to be visible for the first while. But if the first leg is out much past the fetlock, and you still don't see a second, then would be the time to check and see what is going on.

It depends how far away you are from the vet. If you are under an hour you will probably be fine. The calf may be a bit stressed, but if you know when she started labour, an hour longer shouldn't hurt. Odds are you won't have to worry about any of this.

 

[travlnusa]

Thank you very much,

That was the guidance I was looking for.

It seems when I am prepared, all goes well, and when I assume all will go well, things go south very fast as I stand there like a deer in the headlights.

My vet is less than 30 mins away. They are a GREAT group of vets. That is why I pay them to do herd health checks, give shots, etc. Easy high margin work for them, and they are more than willing to return the favor when I need it.

 

[randiliana]

Thank you very much,

That was the guidance I was looking for.

It seems when I am prepared, all goes well, and when I assume all will go well, things go south very fast as I stand there like a deer in the headlights.

My vet is less than 30 mins away. They are a GREAT group of vets. That is why I pay them to do herd health checks, give shots, etc. Easy high margin work for them, and they are more than willing to return the favor when I need it.

With your vet only that far away, you should be fine. Don't worry about it too much unless it happens. Also, it depends a lot on how experienced you are and how confident you are about handling things. Doesn't hurt to try a bit, but know your limits.

 

[travlnusa]

You are very right about the comfort level,

I know what I know, I know what I feel good about trying, and know what I have no business trying at this point.

How long after the heifer " stalls out" do I call the vet? Will a heifer stall out, then get back to work? If so, how long of a delay between stopping and starting again.

I know my qestions are subjective, but your help is great.

My biggest problem is my mentor is in FL on vacation. How dare he do that when I have a heifer due? LOL

My metor is a GREAT man. Our first calf on the farm deliverd when i was out of town. Wife call him to come over. He spent about 3 mins looking over cow/calf and then 30 mins getting wife to calm down.

 

[randiliana]

You are very right about the comfort level,

I know what I know, I know what I feel good about trying, and know what I have no business trying at this point.

How long after the heifer " stalls out" do I call the vet? Will a heifer stall out, then get back to work? If so, how long of a delay between stopping and starting again.

I know my qestions are subjective, but your help is great.

My biggest problem is my mentor is in FL on vacation. How dare he do that when I have a heifer due? LOL

My metor is a GREAT man. Our first calf on the farm deliverd when i was out of town. Wife call him to come over. He spent about 3 mins looking over cow/calf and then 30 mins getting wife to calm down.

We work on the hour rule. If there is no progress within an hour (for a heifer) then we check on things.I figure I would rather pull a a calf that didn't need to be pulled than leave one too long and have a weak or dead calf. But if we do see progress within that hour we will give an extra 1/2 hour. By then you know whether she can have it by herself, or that she is having trouble and you should help.

Brought in a heifer tonight. She is a big girl, but that doesn't always matter. At 6:00 she had the waterbag out, and you could see one foot. Put her up in the barn cause the wind is pretty cold, even though the temps aren't. Put the Milk cow in for company, and figured on checking her again in about an hour. Went out shortly before 7:00 and she had both front feet an the nose there, so she was progressing, although a bit slower than normal, but that could have been due to being in the barn. Left her for 1/2 hour longer, and when I went out she had the baby, he was sitting up, and she was cleaning him. Probably took her about 10 more minutes after we checked on her at 7:00. If she hadn't shown significant progress by 7:30 we would have assisted.

That is a good mentor you have. The first few calves are pretty exciting, doesn't matter whether it is your first calf ever, or you first calf for the year. Just that you feel more confident about handling problems when you have a few years behind you.

Good luck, and let us know how your heifer does, and what she has.

 

[KMacGinley]

Ever noticed what a heifer does when you go out to check her every little bit when she is calving. She stops what she is doing and checks you out. This ends forward progress. We don't watch them once they start for an hour or so. I used to stand around and it finally occurred to me that that was prolonging the process. If you are using calving ease bulls, rarely will they have a problem. I think a lot of pulled calves are unnessesarily pulled.

Also, if you want them to calve during daylight, feed them in the evening.

 

[Sylvanglades]

Texas A&M university has a video titled Assisting Difficult Calving. It is number SP-102 at the Texas Agrilife Extension Bookstore. This 1 hour and 18 minute video is a comprehensive tool for learning to deal with difficult calving situations as well as light assist. By: Floron C. Faries Jr. Retail price = $9.95. 30 copies left in stock. Interesting, educational, and presented in an entertaining, easy to understand manner. We found it well worth the money and even if you don't get it in time for this event, you'll have it for the next.
http://agrilifebookstore.org/public...KEYWORD=&&ORDERDIRECTION=ASC&MATCHCRITERIA=OR
Hope the url works for you but otherwise you could just go to the agilifebookstore and find it. Hope this helps, we can't recommend this video highly enough. Gary

 

[travlnusa]

Once again, thanks for all the help.

I learned long ago not to stand and there and watch. The best tool I use to obesrve her is with a baby monitor. When a cow starts making noise, there is a window on the side of the barn we can use to peak into to see.

I did use a low birth weight bull, and while this is only my 4 calving season, I just have a feeling in my gut I might have issues. When the vet preg checked her, his comment was "Holy !@#$, she is damn tight." That started my concern.

I have seen lots of posts saying my cow is giving birth, what do I do now. I am trying to stay ahead of that curve.

 

[LimiMan]

Here, give this site a try.

http://www.vetmed.lsu.edu/eiltslotus/th ... rtrics.htm

 

[Calman]

Also, if you want them to calve during daylight, feed them in the evening.

I'm curious to know why this would cause calves to be born during the day?
It's true that most of our calves are born during the night, and I do feed every morning.

Cal

 

[dun]

Also, if you want them to calve during daylight, feed them in the evening.

I'm curious to know why this would cause calves to be born during the day?
It's true that most of our calves are born during the night, and I do feed every morning.

Cal

From K-state

Research has also shown that the time of calving can be influenced by the time of feeding. Feeding late in the evening can result in roughly 80 percent of calves being born during daylight hours. This makes observation of calving easier and should provide for earlier intervention, if needed.

 

[Boss Cowman]

I always feed at dusk when I have heifers. I haven't kept track, but the majority of them calve in during the day. It seems things are usually quite until around daylight and then the girls will start popping. Of course if there is a front moving through all bets are off. Makes it kind of nice when I decide to roll over and go back to sleep at three in the morning.

 

[3waycross]

Also, if you want them to calve during daylight, feed them in the evening.

I'm curious to know why this would cause calves to be born during the day?
It's true that most of our calves are born during the night, and I do feed every morning.

Cal

I'm pretty sure they just don't go into labor as much with a full stomach. Anybody else have an idea why?