Well we pinned mom and new calf togther on the morning of day 2 and the evening of the 2nd day. Mom took calf both times with out many problems. Planned on having to do it the next day but when I got out there calf was nursing on its own !! Been 4 days now that he is nursing on his own. Now just stressed I have 1 more cow that should calve anytime really don't want another still born. Hope its not something I did wrong I'm new to cows so don't have much to go off of.
update to sad day
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cypressfarms
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andrews29":2e2pn4id said:
Tell us about your cows/bulls and operation and maybe someone can offer assistance. No use in stressing out, you will either have calving trouble or not, stressing out won't help.
The cow that had the still born I got from a friend she is a small 3year old hereford / red angus cross that was breed back to a red angus bull that has alwasy had small calfs however this one was large I would say 80 to 90 pounds. She had the calf in a short amount of time cow was seen at 7am and all looked good but by 830 calf had been born and cleaned but did not look like he had every got up. The other cow that is due any day is a large 5 year old black cow breed to a black angus. They were getting alafalfa hay with a small amount of cake now we have moved to a grass / alafalfa mix with small amount of cake.
deenranch
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I wouldn't worry about the black cow. She should have it ok... The only advise I have for you in the future is not to cube them much 3 months before they calve until they calve. The calf will grow the most in the last three months of gestation than any other time. So if you are feeding the cow a bunch of cubes the calves will be bigger than they would if they only got cubes once or twice a week... Again, don't worry.... Whatever happens, happens for a reason.
cypressfarms
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If you think 80-90 pounds is large, you wouldn't want to see Nesikep's calves.
Not sure what part of the country your in, but in most parts late spring is the best time of the year for grass - I wouldn't give cows anything "extra" besides water, minerals, and good grass - especially if you are calving. Again, not sure of your grazing...Any cow that can't make it on grass alone in the spring without losing condition should be culled.
Not sure what part of the country your in, but in most parts late spring is the best time of the year for grass - I wouldn't give cows anything "extra" besides water, minerals, and good grass - especially if you are calving. Again, not sure of your grazing...Any cow that can't make it on grass alone in the spring without losing condition should be culled.
HEREFORD ROADHOG
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deenranch":ryrwqeee said:
Deenranch, I am glad you brought this up. I have a cow that is still a bit thin from her last calf, she is bred for October & I was thinking of penning her up & giving her some grain ,but did not want the calf to get too big from this.Do any of you think this would cause problems if I fed her good for a month now?? Thank-you.
Angus Cowman
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If her calf has been weaned off of her and she has been wormed and vaccinated and you have decent grazing this cow should gain plenty of weight just on pasture alone if not then she needs to either be checked to see if she has some sort of illness or be culledHEREFORD ROADHOG":1baaitfd said:
you shouldn't have to grain a dry cow to get her to gain weight
I totally agree.Angus Cowman":3jeo4476 said:
I think this subject needs a little more clarification. Yes, during the last trimester the calf is growing the most, and yes, if the cow is in GOOD CONDITION and you overfeed her you may increase the BW by as much as 10# - same thing with a thin cow being fed up. BUT, a thin cow will have more dystocia than a normal to over conditioned cow (unless you are talking OBESE). Even with the added 10# of BW.
There has been lots of research on this subject, because some producers would rather keep their cows thin, rather than get the calf too big. If you have a thin cow, you are much more $$$ ahead to get her into good condition prior to calving. Ideally, if you calf in the spring, you wean your calves early enough for your cows to recoup their BCS prior to heavy winter. Same with a fall calving, you wean calf in the spring so the cow can regain her BCS prior to calving.
If after a few months of being DRY & on good grass, she is NOT putting on weight, then you have to "assume" she is a really poor keeper or has an underlying health issue or she is carrying TWINS. In either case, I would suppliment her to get her ready for calving - then cull her unless she has twins.
deenranch
Well-known member
Why would you supplement her and then cull her... You are putting money into her that you will not get back at the sale barn... If you are going to cull her now then cull her....
Hereford Roadhog: If she is bred for an October calf, you have plenty of time to get her in shape.... If you want to get her up now and feed her that is going to be fine... Just remember that if you have to do this very often you will not make money on this cow.... Remember that raising cattle is a business.....
