One of my cows calved Sunday about 11:00 am. The birth was normal, no problems. The calve is up and nursing. Mom is taking good care of her. Plenty of milk. Not the cows first calve. She is the first of our cows to calve this year. Being new to this I need some Information, Any advise will be most appreciated...The cow apparently ate the placenta. There is a small thin piece of placenta that is hanging from the cow. What is the normal time for this to detach. It's been 48 hours since birth. Also what vaccinations are recommended or necessary at this time. The cow and calve are with the other cows. Should they be separate. We live in central Alabama, Thank you.
New calve
- Thread starter kerley
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It can take a week to competely eject all of the remains of the placenta and another week to finsih cleaning to where you don;t notice an occasioanl sign of blood or other nastiness. Unles you are in a selenium poor area, just kick them out with the others.
chippie
Well-known member
She should clean out faster than a week. Any little bits of retained placenta can cause a terrible uterine infection which can result in the loss of the cow.
If you are not experienced, call a vet or someone who is who can clean her out and put some antibiotic boluses in her.
If you are not experienced, call a vet or someone who is who can clean her out and put some antibiotic boluses in her.
chippie
Well-known member
I guess that it depends on where you live. We have a good large animal vet who treats cattle. Maybe because we have a lot of FFA and 4-H kids in our county who show.
We had a cow who didn't clean out quickly and she developed a pyrometra in her uterus. It was unknown to us because she never went off of feed until it was too late. She died when the her calf was 2 weeks old.
To each his own.
We had a cow who didn't clean out quickly and she developed a pyrometra in her uterus. It was unknown to us because she never went off of feed until it was too late. She died when the her calf was 2 weeks old.
To each his own.
chippie":3hbaa1it said:
I've seen cows with 2 week old afterbirth that never had a sick day. A person would from the smell if they walked behind her, but the cow satyed in production and kept on doing her job. In the 60s, cleaning used to be the normal until it was discovered that it lead to more problems with late breeding and infertility.
randiliana
Well-known member
We have never cleaned a cow out. Never had one die from it either. At most we will give them a shot of antibiotic, penicillin usually, or sometimes Oxytetracycline. That is what I would suggest doing if you are at all worried.
rockridgecattle
Well-known member
we would separate the cows that have calved from the ones that have not. The pairs would go into an area where no cows have been in for atleast 6 months so that it is clean from diseases. But then our wintering area is different from the calving area as well
Cows with a calf require different nutrition that the bred cows. Less competion for food and the little ones do not have to fight for food as well. They require cleaner area, better bedding, dry clean ground in order to prevent diseases.
We always make sure the bred cows get good bedding, but they go through it faster than the pairs do. As well if we get an out break of scours we can move the pairs to a clean area and keep moving them to fresh area untill it's over. We want the bred cows to stay near the barn incase of trouble.
It's also nice to see the numbers of preg cows dwindling as time goes on.
When it comes to vaccinations talk to your vet about what is right for you. We have a short defined calving season so we pre breed vaccinate everything with ML in May before bull turn out in June
Cows with a calf require different nutrition that the bred cows. Less competion for food and the little ones do not have to fight for food as well. They require cleaner area, better bedding, dry clean ground in order to prevent diseases.
We always make sure the bred cows get good bedding, but they go through it faster than the pairs do. As well if we get an out break of scours we can move the pairs to a clean area and keep moving them to fresh area untill it's over. We want the bred cows to stay near the barn incase of trouble.
It's also nice to see the numbers of preg cows dwindling as time goes on.
When it comes to vaccinations talk to your vet about what is right for you. We have a short defined calving season so we pre breed vaccinate everything with ML in May before bull turn out in June
I've seen cows lost from uterine infections following calving...
how they're treated is largely dependent on what type of cow we're talking about. You treat dairy cows VERY different than beef cows due to the higher levels of stress on their bodies. If a dairy cow hasn't cleaned by 3 days post partum, you start getting worried. She has so many more demands on her system with sudden and heavy milk production, and with the stress of calving her immune system is compromised so that a uterine infection can very well take her down.
Beef cows... it's a whole different story. She produces enough milk for one calf, is only required to support one, and just doesn't have the demands on her body that a dairy cow does. I'm told it's pretty rare to have a severe enough infection to make a beef cow sick. I'm also told it's rare for a beef cow to have even a lingering uterine infection for long after calving. A dairy cow might carry a chronic low grade uterine infection for months, even years if not treated.
how they're treated is largely dependent on what type of cow we're talking about. You treat dairy cows VERY different than beef cows due to the higher levels of stress on their bodies. If a dairy cow hasn't cleaned by 3 days post partum, you start getting worried. She has so many more demands on her system with sudden and heavy milk production, and with the stress of calving her immune system is compromised so that a uterine infection can very well take her down.
Beef cows... it's a whole different story. She produces enough milk for one calf, is only required to support one, and just doesn't have the demands on her body that a dairy cow does. I'm told it's pretty rare to have a severe enough infection to make a beef cow sick. I'm also told it's rare for a beef cow to have even a lingering uterine infection for long after calving. A dairy cow might carry a chronic low grade uterine infection for months, even years if not treated.
rockridgecattle
Well-known member
Alot, not all but alot of retained placentas (RP) can be traced back to poor mineral intake or nutrition problems. Selenium, A D & E, drought, poor quality hay....in beef cows
dyates
Well-known member
chippie":28fc835s said:
Like Dun said, I have seen em go a long time without shedding, no problem. Do not grab it and pull it out. I've heard horror stories of reproductive tracts being destroyed that way.
KMacGinley
Well-known member
Dun is right, listen to him. Vets do not want to clean cows anymore, and in my experience, the ones that do get cleaned either don't breed back or do so late.
Thanks for this. I have only seen it a couple times. Heard it needed to be out in 48 hours or would be a problem. One cow that had it was in real bad shape and died - I was a kid and don't remember anything else. Since I have been running the place there has been one, a thin cow (heard it was often related to poor nutrition) a guy who is a good cowboy but a little out there sometimes on medical/scientific stuff wanted to get in there and get it out or tie a brick or something to it. I said lets wait a few more days and see what happens, it was gross looking but no pus or fever and no real bad odor. It came out on it's own, but judging on the calf's age it must have been there for well over 2 weeks.
sodfarmer490
Active member
if i think it is going to be retained, i give selenium and shot of lutalyse usually takes care of it, early on. yes , they do rot and eventually shed, but sometimes these cows have a hard time rebreeding due to low grade in
fection going on. if you have a more of these, re examine your mineral program.
fection going on. if you have a more of these, re examine your mineral program.
Lots of advice on this forum for getting a reluctant one to mother up - you might want to peruse some of those posts too.
I am concerned you are not pushing that cow enough to take the calf . I would tie her up and get that calf sucking ASAP - that can be the best way to get them back on track.
I am concerned you are not pushing that cow enough to take the calf . I would tie her up and get that calf sucking ASAP - that can be the best way to get them back on track.
Sounds like mom is taking good care of the calf. Don't tie her up, she is doing good job. We don;t seperate cows that calf from cows that have not. Is not usually a problem, but I can see the point made.
angie":3k8ke5ml said:
I missed that calf was nursing already or I got this mixed up with some other thread. Could have sworn they said the cow and calf had been apart for several days...I stand corrected - angie is right, no need to tie this one up (well, I am sort of right - if she was fighting her calf you would want to tie her
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