pregnant cow

[mulecreekfarm]

I am new to raising cattle and I have a question. I have a Guernsey Heifer that I had AI on March 5th of this year and she was due to calve on December 12. Well no calf as of yet. I was wondering how to tell when she is close. She has bagged but she has not started to swell and her hips are not wide yet (that is what to internet tells me to look for) but this morning there was a little discharge but she had some about a week ago. She is still eating and hanging out with the others. What should happen next? and what should I be looking for?
Thanks for you help.

 

[redfornow]

Do you have a headgate?
If you do glove up and take a feel around.
Hard to miss a full term calf. :shock:

 

[cagle520]

dumb to this redfornow,how do you go about doing that? I would like to learn to palpate, not really for age really just to know if they are breed.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Our cows will hold their tails away from their back sides and are not pooping or peeing. They will also switch their tails at their flanks. The back may also be humped up like she was peeing, but she is not.
You may also see the water bag come out, which is a yellowish white color. Some just have the bag burst with a big splat.
It is now just a waiting and watching game.
we check ours every 3-4 hours. Every once in awhile one will fool you and you find the calf already on the ground.

 

[angie2]

Don't glove up. If you are new to this you won;t know what you're looking for anyway (I know I wouldn't). The calf will come when its ready. When you see feet, then you will know for the most part. If she is making an effort without progress, then you have a problem.
Don't be too quick to assist at any stage, this is something I have to remind myself. Is a fine line as she is a heifer and you don;t want to ignore problems, as someone else said, watch for progress. Keep a close eye on her and good luck!!

 

[novatech]

What's with this? The calf is going to come when it is ready. All you are doing is causing extra stress on the cow just to satisfy your own curiosity. Leave it alone and if you must watch do it from afar with binoculars.
Cows are different when calving. Some will spit them out while eating. Some will go hide and if you come near will get up and run.
I have a cow I have been watching, knowing she was to calf, swollen bag for days. Earlier today she had long stringy mucus hanging out that did not release. At about 5:00 PM she had her tail raised and was walking away from the herd. As luck would have it she lay down right next to a gully full of water. This was not going to work. So I went and fed at a couple of other pastures. When I came back she was still trying to give birth. The feet were already exposed. As it was getting pretty dark I decided to move her to a different pasture as to keep the newborn calf from falling into the gully. This being accomplished I came back to the office and am playing on the boards. I suggest that you continue doing the same. Everything will be fine. Tell us about the newborn.
And please take pics.

PS If you decide to watch and you make the cow nervous you will delay the birth process. I let my grandkids watch a cow that was pened up. Took over 4 hours. Iwent to sleep on some hay. They woke me when it was over. But it was worth every second for the kids sake.

 

[1848]

I am new to raising cattle and I have a question. I have a Guernsey Heifer that I had AI on March 5th of this year and she was due to calve on December 12. Well no calf as of yet. I was wondering how to tell when she is close. She has bagged but she has not started to swell and her hips are not wide yet (that is what to internet tells me to look for) but this morning there was a little discharge but she had some about a week ago. She is still eating and hanging out with the others. What should happen next? and what should I be looking for?
Thanks for you help.

Watch for her udder to get real tight, and look for the tail head to look like it is riding higher then normal. Her vulva will shake when she walks, and the calf will drop in the belly and make it appear she lost the filled look up high (calf real low).

 

[Caustic Burno]

Do you have a headgate?
If you do glove up and take a feel around.
Hard to miss a full term calf. :shock:

I usually say leave them alone but if she is not a first timer I think I would glove up to check. I have had to dig more than one dead breech out.

 

[angie2]

I usually say leave them alone but if she is not a first timer I think I would glove up to check. I have had to dig more than one dead breech out.

Even though she is neither significantly overdue, nor appears to have been in any distress? Discharge is too normal for a cow several weeks ahead of calving to be an indicator of labor.

MCF, you say you are new to this. I think it would be a mistake to glove up and palp her. As Novatech said, it is causing undue stress on the heifer in order to satisfy curiosity. Perhaps if you wanted to have a vet check, learn how and what to look for so you can do for yourself next time, but I would advise yet against even doing that.

That being said ~ I had a goat once that went full term and into labor as she should have. After much effort and no progress, I called the vet out, and he pulled a dead kid from her. He said that the kid had been dead a long time. It had caused no infection or any postnatal concerns. Does a cow with a dead calf in her not go into active labor?

 

[Txwalt]

I read somewhere that having sex can help induce labor. I don't think its works though because my wife believed me when I told her that and it didn't seem to induce labor. I'm no help at all. Again.

Walt

 

[Roadapple]

I don't believe sex will induce labor as I was trying to get more labor out of my hired help, so I took him to visit a local gal of ill repute. Now I get less labor as he spends most of his time with her, and on top of that says he now needs a raise.

 

[mulecreekfarm]

OK, here is an update on the heifer. There is still no calf as of Saturday (December 22) so I called the Vet out to take a look. She is pregnant but not by AI. Apparently when she went over in the pasture with the others and our Dutch Belted bull had his way with her. She is only 4 months bred. She was pregnant after the AI but apparently lost it sometime shortly after the preg check. So we will just have to wait until late March or early April to see what comes out. Thank you for all the advise and help.

 

[1848]

That Hussy! :lol:

 

[novatech]

OK, here is an update on the heifer. There is still no calf as of Saturday (December 22) so I called the Vet out to take a look. She is pregnant but not by AI. Apparently when she went over in the pasture with the others and our Dutch Belted bull had his way with her. She is only 4 months bred. She was pregnant after the AI but apparently lost it sometime shortly after the preg check. So we will just have to wait until late March or early April to see what comes out. Thank you for all the advise and help.

She has bagged

If she looks bagged it could just be fat.

 

[mulecreekfarm]

I asked about her bagging up and the vet said "That is perfectly normal for a dairy cow to do that this early in the game, she will start to oose out" and she did. It is a thick yellowish, cream colored stuff. Her bag is big but the vet said it will get nearly twice that size. Poor girl. He knew the dairy that she came from and it will get bigger. She is a show heifer that I bought at the County Fair 2 years ago. I was really hoping for a pure breed Guernsey but I guess I will get what I got coming.