Getting ready to calf

[Anonymous]

My Herford heifer is getting close to having her 1st baby, she is starting to have some stringy mucous so how close are we? This will be our 1st cow birthing. I have mini horses that I help with their births.
Oh I forgot, her bag is getting pretty full to.
thanks

 

[dun]

My Herford heifer is getting close to having her 1st baby, she is starting to have some stringy mucous so how close are we? This will be our 1st cow birthing. I have mini horses that I help with their births.
Oh I forgot, her bag is getting pretty full to.
thanks

Could be anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks. Taken all together, the discharge, the tail head looks very prominant and she will appear sunken on the sides of the tailhead, she will appear thinner, start acting restless, i.e. laying down and getting up frequently, speerating herself from the rest of the cows, or away from activity of people etc. depending on the conditions she is kept under, vulva appears very loose and rubbery, she may bag up very tightly or not. These are all things to keep an eye on and will appear to more extreme as calving approaches. Check on her occasionally as she gets closer. If she goes into active labor, bearing down and pushing, the feet should appear within a half hour or so. If an hour has passed and no significant progress has been made, check and see what the problem is. Anywhere during the calving process if she appears to stop making progress, an hour at the most is all that should be allowed before checking and seeing what the problem may be.
Good luck.

dun