new calves

[cowmama]

First of all, this will be our first calving season so please bare with me..

Our cows are due 3/9 ish. One of our cows seems to be developing sooner than the others. Her milk bag is bigger and she is doing thingss like streching her body way out and we find her ooff by herself.
What are the signs that the cow is in labor? and are cows "due dates" pretty accurate or is there a big variance?//

thank you

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Is your "due date" based on observing the bull in action, or by palpation? Palpation can be off by quite a ways. Bagging up and hanging out by herself is a pretty good indicator most of the time she's springing.

 

[Muratic]

and are cows "due dates" pretty accurate or is there a big variance?//

thank you

You can have up to 20 days before or after that "date". Watch her close, the moon is changing...

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Cows "due-dates" can vary. I have a few who always go a minimum of 6 days past their due date and some that are within 1 or 2 days. Sometimes the ages and sizes of the cows contributes to the variability. The bag getting bigger does mean she is getting closer. I have one who makes her bag pretty much the day before she delivers. If your cow is keeping to herself, that's a pretty good indicator that she's close. She could be a couple days due. I have found that by looking at the cow head-on, if she no longer looks "fat" almost like "normal" then the calf has shifted into position for birthing and is probably within a few hours. Somewhere here on the message board (I believe here on the beginner's board) there were some pictures posted of the rear-end "parts" of a cow close to delivery. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Katherine

 

[jerry27150]

when they first start labor they will start flipping their tail back & forth on each pain & maybe stomp their feet a little. bone along each side of the tail will almost dissapear before starting anything.

 

[jerry27150]

are they heifers or cows?

 

[dun]

I have found that by looking at the cow head-on, if she no longer looks "fat" almost like "normal" then the calf has shifted into position for birthing and is probably within a few hours. Katherine

Except when, we have aheifer that's due 3/12. She's has never looked like she has a calf in there at all, slim and trim. Tonight for the first time she looks absolutley huge.
The moral of the story is, there are no real sure-fire predicters. Prominant tail head, keeping by herself, talking to her side, stretching, calf looks to have shifted, full udder, mucus plug, etc. They're good indicators of impending delivery, but that impending delivery could be minutes, days or weeks.

When she lays down and starts to strin you can bet she's actually in labor and there should be a calf soon.

dun

 

[Jake]

and if there is a cold front or storm coming through expect the calf to come! must be a drop in barometric pressure or something but that kind of stuff always makes them pop.

 

[Chuckie]

My heifer has been licking her sides, acting like flies are on her back, stretching a lot, (which I didn't realize was a sign) and I have been hearing some loud gut sounds too. I can't say that I have noticed it before. I saw her laying down yesterday, and the calf looked like he was throwing a temper tantrum inside. She was showing a thick white mucus Monday, and I just knew was the plug coming out and the calf would follow. But nooooooooo! She has had a thick mucus since last Friday and her udder has been pretty full. Today, the skin on her udder looks more smooth since it is tighter. She also was the first to the trough and was still licking it after the others left like someone had mixed up a bunch of brownies in it. Her tailhead is shrunk, like an old cow, and her sides have caved in just in front of the hip bones. Today it looked like the calf had gone higher instead of hanging low. I am sure she will come up with some more signs that I don't know about just to show me that I don't know nothin.'

 

[dun]

The thick mucus is typically the mucus plug. The birthing mucus is usually much thinner and less sticky. Another one of those rule of thumb deals that works most of the time.

dun

 

[TheBullLady]

I've found that if you quit watching them so closely, the quicker they calve!

 

[Tod Dague]

Two years ago we had an almost instant 30 degree drop in temp and a big storm roll though hard and fast. Went out the next morning and had a heifer laid over trying to have a calf. Checked the calf inside and it was dead. I couldn't pull the calf. I called the vet. He finally made it out about 5 pm. He said that he was pulling and cutting out calves all day long. He said that he has never seen anything like that before. He did the others first because the calves weren't dead when he received the calls. The calf was apparently coming so fast that it didn't allow my heifer to fully dilate. The calf was 52lb.

 

[cowmama]

Our friend who also happens to be an experienced dairy farmer came by to take a look at our cow that appears to be ready to have her calf. He said she has all the signs, full udder, thin clear liquid discharge, licking here sides, and the streching and grunting. BUT< NO CALF!!!!

Does anyone have an explantion???

 

[Bez]

Relax. This has been going on for eons. When she wants to have it she will. Till then, have a cup of coffee and check on her every now and then.

Bez

 

[greenwillowherefords]

It seems I have a knack for owning cows that go for a couple of weeks looking like they are going to calve any time. My first year, I get up and check on them at night, lose sleep, and then they calve while I am at work. I've gotten a little more complacent about it any more.

 

[jcarkie]

they can all be as different as night and day. all the signs vary by cow i can figure a little better after i have been through it with them once. i try to know most of the due dates and then have them preg checked and then see how close he is.1st one 5 days early, 2nd one 1 day early, saw them bred. hiefers are hard to predict,