Loooong Night

[I luv herfrds]

Just one of those nights.
Found a first year heifer about 6:30 pm with the water bag out and some of the placenta.
Ran her into the barn and took a feel. 2 front feet, but the head was to the left side. Everytime I tried to get the chains on he would pull his feet back. Fought him for awhile.
Went back to house and called the vet. Couldn't reach him.
Found the hubby and was able to get the chains on but couldn't get the calf out, the head kept getting stuck. At one point we thought we had killed the calf.
Just stopped and waited to see if we could find the vet.
Vet got here after 8pm.
he tried for quite awhile but could not get the calf to come through the pelvis. Too small.
We were able to get her up and he did a c-section. Now we were think ok we have a dead calf but hopefully we can save the heifer.
Got the calf out which surprised us greatly when he tried to breath. :shock: Got him breathing but unfortunately the heifer was now breathing fast and going down hill.
Heifer died an hour later.
Vet milked some colostrum out of her before she died.
Put the calf in our warming box to get him dried off. He has tried to nurse but just couldn't do it.
Hubby got a tube of Nurse Mate down him and I thawed out a bag of colostrum and we tubed that down him. He has tried to stand but is not having much luck. I have rolled him over a couple of times on to a different side so he is not laying on just one side.

Just hoping he does survive.
Got a weight on him right after birth, 90#.

 

[rockridgecattle]

Sorry for the rough night and the loss of the cow. Hope the calf makes it

RR

 

[JHH]

Man you guys need some better luck. Hope everthing starts turning around for you. Sorry about the cow. You have to hate that. Do you guys do pelvic measurements?

 

[LazyARanch]

Awww ILH, sorry to hear about the heifer, and best wishes for the calf to make it!
Sounds like a really tough night....

Also sending good thoughts your way that the rest of your calving season and spring is UN-eventful!

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

It happens, but i ain't never learned to like it. Lost a heifer a few days ago. But they been spitting them out just like they are suppose to ever since. Better luck is headed your way hang in there.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Bad news the calf died this evening.
Good news had 2 bull calves born today.

Hope this is the end of the bad news and it gets better again.
Other then the loss of the 3 calves and 1 cow at the beginning this is the only thing that has gone wrong.

JHH will have to talk to our vet about doing pelvic measurements. Never done it before, looks like something to have done from now on. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Faith]

I am so sorry to hear that you lost both the calf and the heifer. We recently lost a calf from an older cow. We done everything we could for it but just couldn't keep it with us. I hope things turn around for you. Congrats on the 2 bull calves!

 

[SRBeef]

Sorry to hear of your losses, ILH.

I read somewhere that in general calves are bigger than usual this year across the northern US because of the winter.

Anyone else heard this or think there may be something to this idea?

Jim

 

[gizmom]

Ouch sure sorry about your loss. Congrats on the two bull calves hope the rest come easy and healthy.

 

[bigbull338]

sorry that you had such a rough nite.its hard to loose a heifer like that.

 

[hillsdown]

Sorry, ILH . When it rains it pours, I hope that is the end of your crappy luck this season.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Darn, ILH, you're having more than your fair share.
Bad enough to lose anything, but insult to injury to go thru all that much WORK & expense and than lose them. Bummer.
Hang in there.

 

[redcowsrule33]

Sorry to hear of your losses, ILH.

I read somewhere that in general calves are bigger than usual this year across the northern US because of the winter.

Anyone else heard this or think there may be something to this idea?

Jim

It is absolutely true that cold winters result in heavier birthweights, assuming the nutrition is adequate to compensate for the increased energy needs of the dams. See http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/exten/cc-co ... chwint.htm (older article but the best I could do in a pinch).

In our small sample size of a herd I can tell you anecdotally that the last few winters have had extended cold spells and I have noticed a difference in our average birthweights (we select sires for low birthweight).

 

[I luv herfrds]

Had a first year heifer lose her calf yesterday morning.
I went down to check the cows at noon and my favorite 5 yo cow had a set of twins bull calves. :banana:

Put the cow in a pen with one calf and got the heifer in a pen with the other calf.
Cow was not super happy because she knew she had 2 calves.
Heifer is not super mothering the calf, but she will stand for it to nurse as long as she has food in front of her.

 

[hillsdown]

Congrats on the twins, I am sure that heifer will take that calf as her own very soon.

 

[grubbie]

Sure hope you have some better luck the rest of the season. Been there.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

So, do you think the dead calf is the results of the IBR?
Good timing getting the LIVE set of twins. Means more work, but will be so much better than having another dry dam.

 

[I luv herfrds]

No Jeanne we think the calf got tangled up in the cord and tore it. There was a hole in the calfs belly where the cord should have been.
Talked to our vet and he believes we are past that IBR right now.
This calf was pretty early too. Heifer was not bagged up fully. Gave her a shot of oxytocin to help her milk come in better and the calf is able to nurse on her pretty well.
Before the twins were born I was going to try to milk the colostrum out of her.