Signs of Calving

[ATovet35]

I am new to the cattle industry. I had a cow calve last month and I never new that she was due. I have 3 cows due now actually 2 of which is over due. One of them was raped ( as the vet called it) 2 weeks ago and had to have shots in her tale to stop her from straining. I have the three is a small pasture. I have looked at every website there is and they all say the same thing. One of the cows udders look like they are going to burst and she is springing but she will start showing signs then a couple hours will stop. I was told to keep a close eye on here due to the incident. Im not sure what to look for. She has also had 4 days of mucus. The other cow is starting to show signs of early labor (getting up and Down) and mucous but the udders are not as swollen as the other one. When should I call the vet or should I just sit back and wait. I am so afraid to loose one we are really close to the cattle

 

[TxCoUnTrYbOy]

Im no expert or anything, but from what I have learned from this site is that it seems to vary from cow to cow. Sometimes they will bag up long before calving, and sometimes they will after. If she is "about to burst", keep an eye on her for mastitis. One of ours a little over a mont ago had her calf, and her udder seemed barely filled, and there was no mucus. The only thing we noticed is that she was sinking in a lot. Then the next morning we woke up and a calf was following her around.

Are they all cows or are any of them heifers? From what Ive read heifers seem to be different from cows.

Im sure some of the people with more experience can give more information.

 

[ATovet35]

I will look up the mastitus. They are all cows. They are pros at this but Im not. I wouldnt be so conerned exept for the fact of the problem she had and they had to do a local block on her b/c when she was raped it made her go into I guess a false labor. She pushed for 9 hourse b4 they could figure out what was wrong with her and block her. So I was told to watch her closely. They other one that is due prolapse last year so I want to make sure that she doesnt do it again or atleast be there if she does. My concern is that I am missing something and maybe she be checking internally to see if there is dialation that I am missing

 

[dun]

Three choices, don;t do anything, hope for the best and continue to worry. Sleeve up and reach inside to see what's going on. Have the vet check them both out.

dun

 

[ATovet35]

She did Calve on Dec 28 at 7:30 pm. It all looked to be a normal birth. The baby seemed to be weak but he nursed and done everything he was suppose to but he died yesterday at 10 days old. There was no apparent cause for it. Does anyone have any guesses to it. There was no signs or symptoms with him

 

[randiliana]

She did Calve on Dec 28 at 7:30 pm. It all looked to be a normal birth. The baby seemed to be weak but he nursed and done everything he was suppose to but he died yesterday at 10 days old. There was no apparent cause for it. Does anyone have any guesses to it. There was no signs or symptoms with him

Could be any of a thousand reasons. The best way to find out would be to have the vet post him.

Could be that mama didn't have enough milk, maybe she didn't have good enough colostrum or he didn't get enough when he should have. Could have gotten scours or pnemonia(and there are some types of both that will kill in a very short time, especially if you don't know what you are looking at). Could have gotten kicked, stepped on...... The list goes on.

 

[ATovet35]

At the risk of really sounding stupid what are the signs of scours and pnemonia. She was really bagged I would have thouth she had enough. That had never crossed my mind b/c she was so bagged she looked like she was going to bust. The today one of my cows is really sick. Still waiting on a vet. They are few and far between out here and I am new at this so this web site and the internet is about all I have.

Thanks

 

[3MR]

From what you described about the cows I wonder if these arent somebody elses culls that they got rid of for some of these specific problems. ie: prone to prolapse. Just wondering. Not trying to pick on your cows.

 

[ATovet35]

No I dont think so. I have all there records from previous births and the neibors new them well. I bought 45 acres and I bought the brangus herd that they had. I was into horse and still am but I love the cows and everything that comes along with it. There isnt alot on cattle out there like there is on horses. I know that its a live and learn jus like with horses but I am so baffled to what I am doing wrong. The baby seemed week when it was born (the cow that had it was raped about 2 weeks earlier) we had to pick it up to get it moving and it still took a while. The mom was real good I put her back in with the herd but pulled them back into the birthing pasture b/c the baby was limping and I thought it might have got stepped on. The baby was nursing well but I thought maybe it wasnt getting enough b/c it didnt seem to be gaining weight so I tried bottle feeding and it didnt take to it but went back to the mother. Then my son went out yesterday morning to play with it and it was dead. Just didnt understand. Then today another one that is due in a couple of months is sick has diahrea and is up and down. Not doing well. Getting a vet is like pulling teeth. But they wasnt in the same pasture so it cant be linked.

Thanks
Angel

 

[Beefy]

just because a cow looks like she has plenty of milk doesnt mean she does or that the calf is getting any from her. weak calves can be caused from many things, mineral deficiency, bovine viral diarrhea, etc, etc. limping could be from being stepped on or navel ill, etc.

 

[ATovet35]

Naval ill.. Never crossed my mind. Thanks. So if I see one of my calves that look week even if they are nursing I should go ahead and try to bottle feed them to make sure? And on bottle feediing hw often do you feed them. Sorry for seeming so stupid on this matter. Well I am ignorant on it but I just want to make sure I dont make anymore mistakes and loose anymore of them.

 

[Beefy]

Naval ill.. Never crossed my mind. Thanks. So if I see one of my calves that look week even if they are nursing I should go ahead and try to bottle feed them to make sure? And on bottle feediing hw often do you feed them. Sorry for seeming so stupid on this matter. Well I am ignorant on it but I just want to make sure I dont make anymore mistakes and loose anymore of them.

it jus tkind of depends on the situation, as you will learn in time. for the most part its better to leave them alone and let them do their thing. in your case, the calf had problems from the start. you should have been able to tell if it wasnt getting enough milk to live becasue it would have slowly wasted away. so it probably wasnt that. with weak calves i always make sure the calf is nursing. watch closely to see if you think it is getting any milk. if it is going from teat to teat it likely is not getting much if any milk. if it latches on to one and stays it probably is getting milk. sometimes weak calves cant get the waxy plug out of a cows teat that forms when they stop lactating to keep foreign bodies out. a calf that is not getting adequate or good quality milk can be more susceptible to navel ill, which is very painful to the calf and hard to treat. it can lead to fevers and nasty joint infections, etc. did you notice a swollen navel? what kind of mineral program are your cows on? are you in a selenium deficient area? selenium deficiency can cause weak calves at birth. was the calf early?

oh yeah, the cow being raped could have had something to do with it too. especially with her contracting and all. depending on how much penetration the bull got she could have easily gotten some foreign body in there. the cervical plug is supposed to keep foreign bodies out so that the calf can develop in a sterile environment.

 

[ATovet35]

They are on pasture and no Im not in a selinium deprived area. They are getting adequate hay and grain I feed Nurabeef Range Cubes. They a free access to Mineral/Salt Blocks, hay and feed. The first calf I had in nov was great and healthy. Im not sure if the rape had something to do with it or not. She shouldnt have been early she should have been over but Im not sure as I only bought the herd 5 months ago. It is only a small herd of Reg Brangus. The naval ill. The Naval looked normal not swollen he had no fever. My son was out playing with him the day prior. The getting the milk part Im not sure on we had tried to get close enough to express milk from her but she wouldnt let us do that. B/c That was one of my first concerns. the baby latched on and everything. That was what just baffled me.. Thank you so much for you help. And as far as the books. Thank you for the titles I was having a problem finding books on them. I usually do pretty ok retaining what I read as long as Im sober.

 

[ATovet35]

Thanks alot for all your help.. Its just hard getting into the swing of things. Alot Different then horses. But I really do appreciate the titles. It was hard to find books on cattle. Have a great night!

 

[jersey lilly]

mineral/salt blocks don't have the minerals they need....they are called "trace mineral blocks" for a reason.......you need a good loose mineral out for them at all times. Talk to your local feed store about what brands they carry. Vigortone is a real good mineral.
I suggest you get hold of your county extention agent..he should have some reading material that you could have also. Educate yourself......and keep on educating yourself....there's always more out there you can learn.

 

[randiliana]

At the risk of really sounding stupid what are the signs of scours and pnemonia. She was really bagged I would have thouth she had enough. That had never crossed my mind b/c she was so bagged she looked like she was going to bust. The today one of my cows is really sick. Still waiting on a vet. They are few and far between out here and I am new at this so this web site and the internet is about all I have.

Thanks

Scours is basically diarreah. The biggest reason that calves die from scours is dehydration, and it can happen quickly since they are losing a lot of liquid, and usually they aren't eating well if at all. They usually have a fever, but not always. Pnemonia, is a disease of the lungs, and you will usually notice them panting, or you will hear them breathe. Both diseases can kill very quickly, especially if you do not notice the problem.

You say you have another calf that has diarreah, you need to get some electrolytes into him!! Get some from your vet, or local farm supply and mix them according to the directions. Try bottle feeding the calf, and if he won't suck you will have to tube feed him. If you are tubing, I would suggest giving the electrolyes in a couple of smaller doses a couple hours apart rather than in 1 big dose. Good luck.

 

[Cowdirt]

Thanks alot for all your help.. Its just hard getting into the swing of things. Alot Different then horses. But I really do appreciate the titles. It was hard to find books on cattle. Have a great night!

Vet35, if you don't have a way to restrain your cattle, you need to get a way. Folks on here call such things infrastructure that is needed before getting cattle. I don't know what you have but do know that you will have all kinds of situations arise that will require restraining. My first reaction to a calf not getting colostrum/milk is not to give it a bottle. I suggest getting the cow restrained and try to teach the calf to nurse if needed. If it knows how but is not getting anything, you must figure out what is wrong and deal with it. Last resort bottle feed. The calf's system cannot utilize the colostrum after about a day. Matter of fact, every hour it misses, the utilization falls off quite rapidly.

 

[ATovet35]

They are all up to date on all vac. I will look into the mineral supplement. I do want to thank all of you for your help. We do have the retraints and all that is needed for that. I was unsure with the rape when I first posted this b/c She looked as if she was in Labor and I gloved up couldnt feel where the calf was and really got nervous that I was absolutly STUPID on cows. Then she Calved with a weal bull but he had seemed to do well. Then all of a sudden he died. Wasn't sure what was going on. I do know what scours is just wanted to make sure there was no difference in the scours from a foal and a calf. There was another the got sick was in a different pasture. I pulled her in and doped her up on Electolytes and kaopectate and probios and three days later she is now doing well. I didnt have a Vet post the calf cause getting a vet out to my place for an emergency on my cows is like pulling teeth but there isnt no problem getting them out there for an Emergency on a horse. Not sure whats going on with that. I am in a new area. I had another calf 2 hours ago and he is doing real well so far and looks healthy. Came in weighing 87lbs. Hope you all have a wonderful night