Heifers first calf

[jrn28]

My favorite heifer calved last night, I rarely stay out til 12:00 to keep an eye on a cow but since it was a heifer I did. She successfully had a 45 pound bull calf. Since I was there I stayed to make sure it had its first meal. I have never seen a heifer or cow fight the calf as much as she did. She would keep walking back and in circles to where the calf won't catch a teat. Eventually cow tired out and calf got a hold. Checked on it this morning and everything looks good. I'll try to post a pic later.

Also I wanted to ask, this heifer right after calving didn't get up or move for about 20min. I pushed her to move and nothing she was zoned out, kinda zombie like. She shook out of it when the calf called. Has any one seen that?

 

[TexasBred]

Good job and glad all you had to do was "watch". Up and onward............ ;-)

 

[Nesikep]

I've never had them quite that 'zoned out', though I have had them take a little while to figure out what they're supposed to do with a baby... My last one just mooed at it and walked around it for 20 minutes, not much licking, so I went up to her and well, the licking instinct kicked in.. but she was licking me.. and with fearsome gusto... After I left she started licking the calf and took excellent care of it. The calf never has a speck of dirt on it now, she keeps baby clean.

 

[msscamp]

Also I wanted to ask, this heifer right after calving didn't get up or move for about 20min. I pushed her to move and nothing she was zoned out, kinda zombie like. She shook out of it when the calf called. Has any one seen that?

Yes. If the delivery is difficult or labor is prolonged, the heifer or cow can 'zone' out. How long was she in labor before the calf was delivered? Is there any swelling of the calf's head?

 

[Putangitangi]

My favorite heifer calved last night, I rarely stay out til 12:00 to keep an eye on a cow but since it was a heifer I did. She successfully had a 45 pound bull calf. Since I was there I stayed to make sure it had its first meal. I have never seen a heifer or cow fight the calf as much as she did. She would keep walking back and in circles to where the calf won't catch a teat. Eventually cow tired out and calf got a hold. Checked on it this morning and everything looks good. I'll try to post a pic later.

Also I wanted to ask, this heifer right after calving didn't get up or move for about 20min. I pushed her to move and nothing she was zoned out, kinda zombie like. She shook out of it when the calf called. Has any one seen that?

I often see heifers do that, but usually only for a few minutes; just long enough for a calf to drown in its bag if it didn't break on the way out. That's why I try to supervise most heifer calvings, because I'd rather have a live calf. If I lose a little sleep, it's better than losing a year's effort (more if that heifer loses her calf and gets shipped). I had one last year, after a really hard labour, lie for about twenty minutes before she struggled up and fell down again, because of some nerve damage. She did ok in the end. I think they're just relieved the pain has stopped.

 

[jrn28]

I saw her showing signs at 8, didn't see a bag come out till about 10:30 took about 30 min for it to come out. No swelling and she cleaned out by morning.
This is the calf(bad pic)

Him and his momma

 

[torogmc81]

Also I wanted to ask, this heifer right after calving didn't get up or move for about 20min. I pushed her to move and nothing she was zoned out, kinda zombie like. She shook out of it when the calf called. Has any one seen that?

Yes. If the delivery is difficult or labor is prolonged, the heifer or cow can 'zone' out. How long was she in labor before the calf was delivered? Is there any swelling of the calf's head?

Yea but on a 45 lb. calf???

jrn did you put the calf in front of momma while she was lying there zoned out?

 

[jrn28]

Torogmc81, no all I did was clean his face and ran a piece of straw up his nose so he can blow out the gunk. Maybe if I would have it would have kicked in that mothers intuition sooner and woke her up.

 

[Kingfisher]

Feed em. That poor cow looks a little thin.

 

[msscamp]

Also I wanted to ask, this heifer right after calving didn't get up or move for about 20min. I pushed her to move and nothing she was zoned out, kinda zombie like. She shook out of it when the calf called. Has any one seen that?

Yes. If the delivery is difficult or labor is prolonged, the heifer or cow can 'zone' out. How long was she in labor before the calf was delivered? Is there any swelling of the calf's head?

Yea but on a 45 lb. calf???

Maybe she didn't dilate, maybe a leg was turned back. A 45 lb calf is small enough that she could have still delivered, but it would still qualify as both difficult and prolonged delivery. Usually when a cow/heifer 'zone's' out it is due to exhaustion. If he noticed her showing signs at 8, that means she was in labor for at least a good 2 hours prior to showing obvious signs. Add another 2 1/2 hours before he finally got out there to check on her, and another roughly 30 minutes for her to actually deliver the calf. That is definitely prolonged delivery, and enough to exhaust the heifer.

ETA: When I was calving out heifers(and with my goats), if there wasn't progress within 30 minutes of the dam starting hard labor I found out why.

 

[dun]

45 pounds by actual weight or guess? Dexter or lowline cow?

 

[kucala5]

Time well spent. I tend to bird dog all our mamas during calving, but we keep the first and second calf heifers in the lot when they get close to check every four hours and it pays off with live calves.

 

[jrn28]

Dun, I picked it up and guessed(I let someone borrow my scale and haven't got it back).
She is actually angus plus. Her sire was my old angus bull shown here.

This is her dam

 

[skyhightree1]

45lbs it should have slid out like a terd IMO But never had the zone out thing. Congrats on the calf

 

[Black and Good]

:compute: Heifers are just stupid and don't know what is happening. Usually a little movement or a sound for the calf will trigger the mother in them. Sometimes I will bawl like a calf and they will snap to it. B&G