Pregnant cow that lost her first

[Nesikep]

Some have a bit different tolerance to low levels of minerals than others... If you aren't feeding selenium I would suspect you're low on it.
Best time to sell the calves is probably when the grass is starting to grow, for you, probably march-april

 

[CG1]

Some have a bit different tolerance to low levels of minerals than others... If you aren't feeding selenium I would suspect you're low on it.
Best time to sell the calves is probably when the grass is starting to grow, for you, probably march-april

Perfect. I'll start the efforts in March.

I do feed them those mineral tubes from the coop feed store. I assume there is selenium in there. But I'll read the label tomorrow.

 

[Nesikep]

There might be some, but probably not a whole lot.. I'd guess around 5-10mg/kg.. my loose mineral has 50-125mg/kg for comparison

 

[CG1]

There might be some, but probably not a whole lot.. I'd guess around 5-10mg/kg.. my loose mineral has 50-125mg/kg for comparison

Is it better for me to feed that over those molasses like tubes? It's super expensive and they will eat it all day if I provided it. But it's the only thing I see at the local feed places.

 

[Nesikep]

mix it equal parts with salt for a while at least, that'll slow them down a little

 

[gcreekrch]

If a cow aborts here she never gets a second chance to do it. They must produce income every year even if it happens to be themself.

 

[Nesikep]

If a cow aborts here she never gets a second chance to do it. They must produce income every year even if it happens to be themself.

I'd like to adopt that, but losing one cow if I'm below stocking capacity puts me suddenly well below capacity and affects me for a couple years while I build back up.

 

[gcreekrch]

If a cow aborts here she never gets a second chance to do it. They must produce income every year even if it happens to be themself.

I'd like to adopt that, but losing one cow if I'm below stocking capacity puts me suddenly well below capacity and affects me for a couple years while I build back up.

For the value of the cull and what she would eat over the coming year you could purchase a bred replacement. This outfit was built on cheap cows. I still buy them when opportunity knocks. Just remember there is a difference between cheap and junk.

 

[Nesikep]

We've kinda had a closed herd here.. we haven't imported any females in 27 years, well, except for the PB Gelbvieh heifer I kinda snuck in... I had several culls that year, 65% bull calves, and only 2 of the heifer calves were from decent cows, so I kinda had to

 

[MurraysMutts]

If a cow aborts here she never gets a second chance to do it. They must produce income every year even if it happens to be themself.

I'd like to adopt that, but losing one cow if I'm below stocking capacity puts me suddenly well below capacity and affects me for a couple years while I build back up.

For the value of the cull and what she would eat over the coming year you could purchase a bred replacement. This outfit was built on cheap cows. I still buy them when opportunity knocks. Just remember there is a difference between cheap and junk.

I'm getting that way as well. I've kept 2 that lost their first calves. They've done straight by me since then.
I had one I bought this year abort very early for whatever reason. Down the #%@* road she went. Gone like yesterday. Dont miss her a bit!
I even had her pregged b4 I sold her. She had been with a bull up until sold. Sold open.

 

[bird dog]

If a cow aborts here she never gets a second chance to do it. They must produce income every year even if it happens to be themself.

So do you also cull the cow if a wolf gets her calf? Or to put it another way, how do you know what happens to her calf unless you see it happen?

 

[CG1]

This is all proof I'm a terrible farmer haha. If one loses a calf I almost always give them another chance. I feel the saddest for those girls. I tend to keep them forever...

 

[76 Bar]

I give selenium, but only at birth.

If your area is Se deficient, injectable is at best a stop gap solution and of limited efficacy i.e. ~ 4-8 weeks.

If a cow aborts here she never gets a second chance to do it.

Concur wholeheartedly and especially as it pertains to 1st calf heifers.

So do you also cull the cow if a wolf gets her calf? Or to put it another way, how do you know what happens to her calf unless you see it happen?

Apples & oranges.

 

[MurraysMutts]

I have kept several that lost the calf thru no fault of their own. Got a couple like that this year actually.
One was what I believe a snake bite. It was heartbreaking. Mama was standing over her calf mooing for all she could to get that baby up.
The other was pneumonia that I didnt catch.

The one that aborted this year I didnt care much for anyway. She was always very high strung. Was glad to be rid of her. I'll find a better one to replace her.

Gotta weigh ur options....

In this particular case I would keep her if shes does well. If she does it again, time for a career change for the cow.
The problem u are describing, sounds to me like an individual cow problem. I try to get rid of individuals that have real problems. Hopefully it was a one time thing. Heifers will be heifers..

 

[MurraysMutts]

The lack of thriftiness and odd behavior suggests that there could be something infectious going on. If this is a repeat early calf (basically an abortion if she is calving before the calf can sustain life), it might be warranted to conduct an antibody test to determine if she has an infectious disease like Neospora or BVD, etc.

If she loses this next one we will do more testing. We are nose flapping our calves this weekend and I'm going to try and get her through the squeeze. Anything I can do now to try and prevent what happened last time?

A vet could examine her based on what happened last year and her current symptoms. That is my suggestion.

Good advice. Wont cost much and that's one thing u can rule out. Or just wait and get what ya get..
Please let everyone know what happens.
I know I'm anxiously awaiting the outcome!
And ur not a terrible farmer! U show great concern and compassion for ur animals. That's one of the things it takes to do this.

 

[CG1]

If she loses this next one we will do more testing. We are nose flapping our calves this weekend and I'm going to try and get her through the squeeze. Anything I can do now to try and prevent what happened last time?

A vet could examine her based on what happened last year and her current symptoms. That is my suggestion.

Good advice. Wont cost much and that's one thing u can rule out. Or just wait and get what ya get..
Please let everyone know what happens.
I know I'm anxiously awaiting the outcome!
And ur not a terrible farmer! U show great concern and compassion for ur animals. That's one of the things it takes to do this.

We had her looked at. Sees no issues. But I've heard that before! We will just play this out I suppose. She is a very big cow. Not weight wise but height. Very tall. Very oddly tall. Stands by far the tallest I've ever had. And narrow. It's like her frame just isn't built for this.

 

[gcreekrch]

If a cow aborts here she never gets a second chance to do it. They must produce income every year even if it happens to be themself.

So do you also cull the cow if a wolf gets her calf? Or to put it another way, how do you know what happens to her calf unless you see it happen?

A cow that won't or can't carry a calf to full term is giving indication her production days will likely be limited. One that loses a calf to a wolf has no choice, if she is a good cow she usually stays.
Some outfits cull every dry regardless. Maybe we are too lenient...

 

[bird dog]

<<Maybe we are too lenient...>>
You aren't near as lenient as most of us. I'm sure I keep way to many especially if they are young and good. To me I have just to much invested in the ones I keep, money, genetics and time. I don't want to just get slaughter price for the animal, but I also don't want to dump my problems on someone else by selling her as a bred.
I am also concerned with what I replace her with won't be much better unless there is a herd sellout or something that brings some good cows to the barn.

Some of my best cows were the open ones from a herd sell out.

 

[Cdcollett]

Your all in on her right now so let her do her thing. Might work out...might be educational. I'd cull her based on that description you gave of her anyway
" Very tall. Very oddly tall. Stands by far the tallest I've ever had. And narrow".
Not sure why you gave that one a second chance but hope it works out for you.

 

[MurraysMutts]

I've got one of them myself. Dont know what shes made of, but shes almost freakishly tall. Grows a whopper every year tho! Shes a really good one. Gotta have a good bull. I gave the last one a step stool. Somehow he figured it out on his own and took a poop on my stool!

Edit, I take that back. Shes got some chianina in her.
So I guess I do know a bit about her. Standing next to her it's difficult to see over her back. I gotta dig up a picture now... lol. Sheesh

Hows that mama doing?