New calf question

[RICHARDL]

On my way to work this morning I noticed one of my Cows i purchased Preganet had her calf. I was thinking mid sept. But it was on the ground it was trying to get up. Is there any thing i need to be aware of? how long before it gets up ? and should the momma cow be right there with the calf? If not how long do i wait before i help out? this is my first calf. and on top of all that its suppose to rain like heck all weekend. :cowboy:

 

[S&WSigma40VEShooter]

Should be up and around immediately usually at least mine are but I would say 30 minutes and if it hasnt been up by then get it up and try and make it nurse moma.

 

[randiliana]

A good healthy calf should be on its feet within about 1/2 hour, especially in warmer weather. Mama cow should be with her calf, licking it off and mothering it up.

If your mama has taken off, you need to get colostrum into that calf as soon as you can. Under 6 hours is best. Either get her caught and milk her, or go buy some commercial colostrum replacer. The best would be the fresh stuff, but the commercial stuff will work in a pinch.

|If the calf doesn't get up and suck on its own fairly quickly, you still need to get colostrum into it as soon as you can. A good feed of colostrum will often fix up a weak calf.

Once the calf is up and going, dried off, and is sucking from mama, they can take a lot of weather. If it is going to be really wet, it would be best with such a young calf if it could have access to some sort of a shed though. And keep a close eye on it for scours, so you can treat BEFORE the calf is really sick.

 

[Bez+]

Be aware it is not unusual for a mother to leave the calf for long periods of time

Be aware that a calf will fall all over the place for the first day or so - they can stand but are quite unsteady and will trip on everything

Do not set a watch and timer on calves reactions and abilities - there are always exceptions

If this is your first my best advice would be to do nothing for 24 hours - you will not know what happened during your time at work or during this up coming night unless you set a 24 hour watch on it.

If it rains do not worry - millions of cows and calves live outside year round - in fact are born on snow and in rain

You interfere and you will have a bottle calf

Your panic / concern is quite usual for newbies

Cows have been doing this for a lot longer than you and I have been around - with a great deal of success

99% of the time it all works out. The rest of the time - well - there is some natural selection and I am not one to want to spend good money after bad

So relax - day three and this thing will be running around with its tail in the air.

Bez+

 

[RICHARDL]

SHE MUST of just had it right before i got there. because she was down. when i got in the truck and got closer, she was up, looking down. than i saw its litle head move. She was licking it and standing over it. SO i went on to work, I had my girl go watch it to see, she also saw it trying to get up. Than she said momma cow walked away. But when she tried to go thru the fence to see she came back real quick. SHe's and 4 yr old cow and the calf looked pretty small. So i'm head that way in a couple of hours to check on it. I guess i should stop at the feed store. and get what i need. bottle & Colstrum. good to have on hand if i don't need it. Thanks for the info. I really though i was told mid to late sept. SO if its not up when i get home at lunch i guess i should go take a peek on things. ? and go from there?? does it matter that another cow was right there too? :cowboy:

 

[Bez+]

SHE MUST of just had it right before i got there. because she was down. when i got in the truck and got closer, she was up, looking down. than i saw its litle head move. She was licking it and standing over it. SO i went on to work, I had my girl go watch it to see, she also saw it trying to get up. Than she said momma cow walked away. But when she tried to go thru the fence to see she came back real quick. SHe's and 4 yr old cow and the calf looked pretty small. So i'm head that way in a couple of hours to check on it. I guess i should stop at the feed store. and get what i need. bottle & Colstrum. good to have on hand if i don't need it. Thanks for the info. I really though i was told mid to late sept. SO if its not up when i get home at lunch i guess i should go take a peek on things. ? and go from there?? does it matter that another cow was right there too? :cowboy:

Sounds to me like you are bound to interfere - my reccommendation is save your money - cow has it under control - tell your "girl" to stay away from it - safety should be her primary concern - and not for the calf!

Approaching the cow can do many things - lead to an attack - or lead to abandonment - are only two possibilities.

Next time you see it the calf will likely be laying down - they sleep a lot. Does not mean there is anything wrong.

Stand back for a while - you probably do not have to do anything.

Bez+

 

[RICHARDL]

I HEAR YOU, not going to interfere. yea i told her if she came back to leave. she did. i'm just going to check on them when i get there i'm off in an hour anyways. i just hate to sit by and not do something if she momma cow doesn't. but i understand thanks :cowboy:

 

[dun]

This is pretty much mid September. 2 weeks before or after the expected due date (based on actually oberved breeding or AI) is within the perfectly normal range for calving

 

[RICHARDL]

YEA\, I KNOW NOW. got another one just like her too might get home to (2) on the ground. and of course. the only real rain we get is has to be now . So i guess im just worrying a little to much is all. kinda caught me off guard when i saw that this morning. :cowboy:

 

[snickers]

we have had cow's and heifers since 2002 and before that my dad had cow's so I'm pretty familiar with the calving issue's but I still get anxious with each birth. I always breath a sigh of relief when it's over. out of ten cow's in the last 4 years we have had 3 backwards and only saved 1. we had one that had only one foot out and the other was back heifer couldn't have him and we couldn't get him pushed back far enough to get ahold of the other foot so we had to call the vet and thank goodness they both made it but if we wasn't there they both would of died. I tell ya you just never know what could go wrong during calving season.

 

[farmwriter]

I agree that no action seems to be needed. Only thing I'd advise that I didn't read is this: a good indication of how things are going is the cow's bag, especially if she's not a first timer. If she's a good milker, you'll likely be able to tell which quarters have been nursed down, especially as more time passes. As long as mama ran up when she thought her baby was threatened, I'd say you've got a good mama and nothing to worry about.
Congrats.

 

[msscamp]

But it was on the ground it was trying to get up. Is there any thing i need to be aware of? how long before it gets up ? and should the momma cow be right there with the calf? If not how long do i wait before i help out? this is my first calf. and on top of all that its suppose to rain like heck all weekend. :cowboy:

If the calf is not up and sucking within a half hour, you need to intervene and get the calf sucking. There is a 24 hour window of the calf being able to utilize the colostrum, and the utilization diminishes with each passing hour. There is also the factor that a wet, chilled calf tends to develop scours which will dehydrate it, and could kill it.

 

[RICHARDL]

aFTER speaking with the vet, He Strongly recommend we interven we did. I fed it friday afternoon. than again later on. we got it up on it feet sat. walked around some. fed it again sat. afternoon & than again sunday morning & afternoon. had it walking around somewhat yesterday. She tried to suck on momma. We aren't too sure she did thought we are hopeful. Now this morning on my way in, i didn't see it in the same spot as yesterday afternoon so i think i may of gotten up an moved. thats a good sign if it got up on its on. We are hoping momma cow has gotten a handle on things. She'll try to feed it again this morning. She was very weak, and so tiny couldn't weight more than 40 lbs. And yes momma cow was very protective we had to be very careful. Yea and on top of all that it rain all weekend. what an experience. :cowboy: