I think the bull definitely has an impact on gestation length. We've been using BR Midland for several years and have never had a cow go 283 days. We've had some born two weeks earlier. They're very small, of course, when born that early. I know an ABS rep who always used GT Maximum on cows if they missed on the first AI. He said MAX was a short gestation bull and by using him he could keep the cows in a tighter calving period. Our first Midland heifer calved ten days early yesterday. We generally get heifers up about two weeks before their due date, but we'll get those other Midland girls up sooner than that....just in case. On the other hand, Woodhill Foresight calves seem to take the full 283 days. In fact, yesterday we were about to turn a cow back into the herd, thinking she wasn't AI bred, when she started paying a lot of attention to another newborn. So we left her alone and she calved at 286 days, a heifer at that.
Latest a heifer has calved?
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ssgshelton
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Still waiting. She is now plus 3 days. It is cold as whale stuff right now so hopefully she will wait a day or two.
Workinonit Farm
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ssgshelton":bx2s6f34 said:
For some cows that is the best time to calve :lol: . It would be nice if she would wait, but don't be surprised if she doesn't.
Katherine
ssgshelton
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Well dang it!
Today the heifer finally calved. All total it was 10 days past the due date. I went down to feed about 10am and noticed she had mucus from her vagina. It did not look like she had calved then so I left and came back to check on her around 1pm. She had calved down by a woven wire fence and when I walked around I notice something barely moving. It was a little calf lying on its side breathing pretty shallow. She was licking it off but it looked pretty dry. I watched it for about 30 mins and it was still on its side with its feet uphill. I turned it so its feet were down hill and after a few mins it perked up a little and began to bawl. It was also not raising its head. With this being my first calf that I saw being recently born, I thought of other peoples recommendations to leave it alone and come back. So I did and when I came back around 3pm it was dead. I must have died within a few mins of me getting there because it was still warm and was just letting out its final urine. I went ahead and put it in my loader bucket and took it up to the barn to look at it. It was a perfect looking heifer calf that had good quality coat and shape. Also when I looked at it more in depth I saw still alot of that thick slime/mucous down its throat and mouth.
Well this is a live and learn. What should /could I have done differently? She calved on a hill but my whole pasture basically a hill so I don't think I could fix that. Should I have stomach tubed it with some clostrum or gave it a shot of anything?
Thanks
Joel
Today the heifer finally calved. All total it was 10 days past the due date. I went down to feed about 10am and noticed she had mucus from her vagina. It did not look like she had calved then so I left and came back to check on her around 1pm. She had calved down by a woven wire fence and when I walked around I notice something barely moving. It was a little calf lying on its side breathing pretty shallow. She was licking it off but it looked pretty dry. I watched it for about 30 mins and it was still on its side with its feet uphill. I turned it so its feet were down hill and after a few mins it perked up a little and began to bawl. It was also not raising its head. With this being my first calf that I saw being recently born, I thought of other peoples recommendations to leave it alone and come back. So I did and when I came back around 3pm it was dead. I must have died within a few mins of me getting there because it was still warm and was just letting out its final urine. I went ahead and put it in my loader bucket and took it up to the barn to look at it. It was a perfect looking heifer calf that had good quality coat and shape. Also when I looked at it more in depth I saw still alot of that thick slime/mucous down its throat and mouth.
Well this is a live and learn. What should /could I have done differently? She calved on a hill but my whole pasture basically a hill so I don't think I could fix that. Should I have stomach tubed it with some clostrum or gave it a shot of anything?
Thanks
Joel
regolith
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Lots of things you could do if you want to run a high intervention system and watch every heifer calve...
But it sounds quite possible that this one was brain-damaged and wouldn't have made it whatever you did.
The last calf I recall that couldn't raise its head shortly after birth was this one:
http://cowcalfandvet.blogspot.com/2006/ ... eford.html
I'd have attempted to stimulate the breathing (make it sneeze to clear mucous, or check and manually remove any - once it's breathing it's too late to lift or swing the calf to drain mucous), hauled the calf inside if it was cold, and tubed it with colostrum. But then I'm the sort of farmer who would have snatched that calf off its mother within a few hours even if it was healthy.
But it sounds quite possible that this one was brain-damaged and wouldn't have made it whatever you did.
The last calf I recall that couldn't raise its head shortly after birth was this one:
http://cowcalfandvet.blogspot.com/2006/ ... eford.html
I'd have attempted to stimulate the breathing (make it sneeze to clear mucous, or check and manually remove any - once it's breathing it's too late to lift or swing the calf to drain mucous), hauled the calf inside if it was cold, and tubed it with colostrum. But then I'm the sort of farmer who would have snatched that calf off its mother within a few hours even if it was healthy.
ssgshelton":3iwxq7pw said:
I'm sorry you lost one.
I just came in from checking on a heifer and she's got a new one out there trying his best to get up.Yes, it would be best to turn the calf so it's head is uphill. In fact, if you could get it to a flat area, it would be better. Getting up for the first time can be quite a challenge for some of them; working on a hill would make it harder. Also be sure the airways are open. Tickle his nose with grass, do something to make him sneeze or wipe his nose with your handkerchief if his momma hasn't already cleaned his face.
It sounds like momma did her best if she was licking him down. He died too soon for it to be a lack of colostrum. Our experience has been that anything going much past their due date has some sort of problem. They usually doesn't end well, not always, but usually.
AudieWyoming
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ssgshelton":3v8l2ptk said:
At the dairy with Holsteins the old dairyman said "If the calf bawls before he stands, he is hurt inside and won't live" just an observation but it seemed 98% accurate. I have seen more beef calves do it and live but they never do well. Its possable the cow accidentally stepped on him before you got there.
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