This calving season SUCKS

[Bright Raven]

Are we talking Hook's Broadway 11B?? His numbers do not indicate small calves!!!
CE 1 BW +3 with an API of 120
NOT good numbers.
Fire Sweep, is there any chance your cows are being effected by BVD or another reproductive disease? One tends to have small weak calves early birth - which seems to fit what you have experienced. Could be coincidencne that it is the Broadway calves being effected. We need Lucky P's advice.

Yes. Hooks Broadway.
I meant my average is below his numbers. Yes. I agree. His EPDs suggest big calves. But they are not showing up here.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Are we talking Hook's Broadway 11B?? His numbers do not indicate small calves!!!
CE 1 BW +3 with an API of 120
NOT good numbers.
Fire Sweep, is there any chance your cows are being effected by BVD or another reproductive disease? One tends to have small weak calves early birth - which seems to fit what you have experienced. Could be coincidence that it is the Broadway calves being effected. We need Lucky P's advice.

No chance of BVD, we check just about every animal except the last year (ear notch).
The ONLY small caves I have had was the Broadway, the others are average. His EPD's changed when they reran the numbers with the new system, and I have little faith in them. I know what we have experienced here, smaller than average and 7 days early. One two weeks early! There is something going on with him (my cattle are rarely early), but my sample size is too small to give any validity. And, none of them have been weak. The little heifer out of our Broker female (a heifer) was 2 weeks early, but is already 154 pounds at 45 days! She took off like gangbusters after she was born! The one we lost a few weeks ago was 7 days early. So my small birth weights are mostly attributed to early births.

 

[coachg]

I feel your pain, things sure can go south in a hurry when it comes to calving. We had 15 in a row, lost a set of twins, and then a 12 day old calf to an umbilical abbcess . Grandpa Griffith use to say you can't lose em if you don't have them and if you have them you are going to lose em. Still stinks !

the old Hereford man? Bought a couple bulls from him years ago....

That was my grandpa's brother John Ike , he owned GriffithHereford Farms. Grandpa lived on the farm and helped out.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

And the curse continues.....

We had a cow go into labor yesterday. I noticed at 1PM she was"laborish"; laying down and pushing lightly, getting up and repositioning herself. Finally, around 4PM, she broke her water. Her labor was still about the same, with a little more pushing. By darkfall, I decided to bring her in and check on things (love having halter broke cattle). All I can feel is the tail of the calf, and I am all the way up to my shoulders. I know when I am out of my league, so I called the vet. Not only is it after hours, but there are two emergencies in front of me (a dog needing immediate surgery for pyometra and a down cow). Ugh... his clinic is 20 minutes away, and I was happy to see him pull in just 45 minutes after I called.
We tie up the cow, he goes in all the way to his shoulders (he is a very tall man), and is able to get the back feet into the vagina. He hooks up the chains (and I notice little legs, which is good), sits down on the ground, puts his feet on the cow's rump, and pulls. The calf practically flew out! We were laughing at the scene, wishing someone had clean hands to take a picture! The calf was not responding, so he put some straw up her nose to get her going....
Here he is after she flew out, and he was trying to get her breathing...

Here is our son drying off the calf and further stimulating her to breath.

So thankful we have a live calf to show for it! It is our son's cow and calf, so he helped the entire process.
The cow is SimmAngus (Beef Maker sired), and this is her third (and smallest) calf. She was 287 days gestation, and the calf weighed 61 pounds this morning. The calf is sired by Cut Above (or better known as Fat Butt).
Here she is this morning, right after weighing and kicking her out to pasture...

I am praying it gets better from here... really I have had enough of this stuff!

 

[wbvs58]

Well that is not too bad, the main thing is the end result was good, things are looking up.

Ken

 

[TCRanch]

Good save, congrats!

 

[Putangitangi]

Good outcome! How much breathing are you expecting? The calf looks like it's up on its front legs with the vet tickling its nose. Surely it was already breathing when it was that alert?