I was given the following advice a few years ago by a real old timer:
"always try to see every calf being born on your farm"
Although this isn't always possible and maybe it can be edited to be "always try to see every first calf heifer giving birth on your farm" it still is very sound advice.
I had a first calf heifer due on 29/9, but she didn't calf till today (bull calf of course). It was an easy birth, but just as the calf was halfway out her overkeen mothering instinct kicked in and she got up, the calf fell out and was lying with his head underneath his body. If I wasn't there at the time I would have found the heifer with a still born calf and she would have been on the short list and valueble genetics probably lost for my herd. In this instance BW and CE would have played no role, but management did.
If I didn't check at all today and found the dead calf tomorrow I probably would have thought that the heifer had no mothering instinct and didn't attend to her calf, which could not have been further from the truth.
And believe me I wasn't in the mood to cut my Sunday afternoon nap short, but am sure glad I did.
"always try to see every calf being born on your farm"
Although this isn't always possible and maybe it can be edited to be "always try to see every first calf heifer giving birth on your farm" it still is very sound advice.
I had a first calf heifer due on 29/9, but she didn't calf till today (bull calf of course). It was an easy birth, but just as the calf was halfway out her overkeen mothering instinct kicked in and she got up, the calf fell out and was lying with his head underneath his body. If I wasn't there at the time I would have found the heifer with a still born calf and she would have been on the short list and valueble genetics probably lost for my herd. In this instance BW and CE would have played no role, but management did.
If I didn't check at all today and found the dead calf tomorrow I probably would have thought that the heifer had no mothering instinct and didn't attend to her calf, which could not have been further from the truth.
And believe me I wasn't in the mood to cut my Sunday afternoon nap short, but am sure glad I did.