Heifer Calving Question

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SmalltimeOkie

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So we have this heifer that's been a bit of a wild ride. Anyway story for a different time.

She is due soon and the wife is worried. She's had some vulva swelling and discharge over the last week+, I brought her back to the house to keep closer tabs on her last week because I was worried she would drop a calf in this nasty weather we had last weekend. She was a trooper through the weather fortunately, but Tuesday she looked pretty imminent (Vulva was VERY swollen, more discharge, tail raised some, seemed to be uncomfortable, was having what looked like contractions, and some pulsing/throbbing in her vulva) She never appeared to be really pushing. Well all of those signs went away Wednesday (Tail back down, swelling reduced, back to acting normally), but her udder is much fuller and more pronounced now. Wife is worried there were complications (She is a prior L&D nurse), but all seems pretty normal to me.

Is it normal for first time heifers to start and stop early labor signs or is this something we should be worried about?
 
Maybe but hopefully not, A uterine torsion? Had a cow behave similarly, start in ernest then change her mind. I palpated and thought it was a twist, vet confirmed and got to work. He was ecstatic when he got the calf out alive.
 
Welcome to calving out heifers!! Heifers can show odd signs at times. I've had them do the exact thing you describe, show normal signs, and have no signs then spit one out. I've only had one that actually had her calf die inside her and we had to have it pulled out. This happened with a big Brangus heifer the first year we bought cows. I'd watch her close for the next week and see if anything happens. If she did loose the calf most likely a hoof or something will show then you can take her to the vet. This is the first year in probably 5 that we aren't calving out 15-25 heifers and it's been a relief.
 
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It does sound pretty unusual to me. If she was mine, I would put her in and check to see if calf is in the delivery position. if she didn't have the water bag or a noticeable amount of fluid discharge, she may be OK.
 
Heifers can show signs of discomfort several days before calving.
If you seriously thought that was labour get her in and check inside - if calf is through cervix or cervix fully open then yes, it needs to come out.
Otherwise, wait and watch. If she was in trouble there should be some sign of it within two days (nasty discharge), or the calf should have arrived. It'll probably keep your wife happy if you check, and no harm done if you need to let her back out to wait longer.

Or you might find she did have the calf and has hid it? If so you'll just about fall into an open empty uterus checking at this point, but at least you'll know there's no calf in there.
 
Ditto what @Dsth and @regolith said. When in doubt, trust your gut and glove up. It's possible she was in actual labor, but the calf could be breech (as opposed to backwards) or some sort of malpresentation. It's also possible the calf was just turning into position. Is she otherwise acting normal? Not separating herself? Still eating/drinking? Is she pacing or acting nervous?
 
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Still acting very normal, eating, drinking and never really separated herself. Just acted a little more stressed and uncomfortable that one day. We never saw any water bag or parts/pieces of the calf. Seems like calf was probably just moving around and putting some pressure on her cervix.
 
SmalltimeOkie said:
Still acting very normal, eating, drinking and never really separated herself. Just acted a little more stressed and uncomfortable that one day. We never saw any water bag or parts/pieces of the calf. Seems like calf was probably just moving around and putting some pressure on her cervix.
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watching them frequently does two things.

1. Saves a small percentage of calves/cows actually in trouble
2. Drives the observer Bat shxyt crazy

#1 only occurs if you choose to sleeve and and check things out

I had a cow grazing and eating with the herd perfectly natural looking that had a backwards dead calf in here. fortunately for me she eventually showed me just a little placenta so I could get the calf out before it killed her

#2 occurs regardless.
 

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