Friday I found a dead calf from my second calvers, right by the gate, in the straw, not cleaned off and the afterbirth right on the calf. Could not find a mom, looked at everyone, left the dead calf there for a day, and nobody came to visit, or called for a calf. Today, same type of thing, only a live calf. Opposite end of the lot, in the straw not cleaned off, with afterbirth right beside it. This time I found the mom, put her in a pen with the calf and they are fine. What would make these 2nd calvers just walk away? I accept a certain amount of stupidity from a 1st calver, but when they've already "been there, done that", I don't get it.
walk-away moms
- Thread starter Dee
- Start date
jerry27150
Well-known member
baffles me, i never had any do that. what breed are they
F-1, Angus X Hereford. The first year I had trouble with two of them taking the calves. One never bred back, the other has already calved and did well. Now two have done the abandonment thing, out of 36, and I have 68 more to go. Makes me wonder......?
Angus breeder
Member
Could the cow have had twins ? I had it happen already that way . They have one dead and than go and have another and not want that one either.
Medic24
Well-known member
What ever it is Dee,Good Luck! Hope it gets better! :cboy:
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We had a heifer last year that didn;t want anything to do with her calf after we pulled the 100 lb monster. We penned them together, gave her a little grain next to the calf and dumped a bunch of it on the calf. An hour later she was taking care of it. She calved last night and is a great mother. I've never seen a cow abandon a calf that wasn't sick/dieing or that was the result of avery hard pull. Makes you wonder sometimes how their mothers behaved.
dun
dun
Workinonit Farm
Well-known member
Haven't had that problem.......yet. (now that I said that.....) I hope the rest of your cows don't do that. Good luck.
Katherine
Katherine
CattleAnnie
Well-known member
Here's an article from the Western Producer that may shed some light on the "abandonment" phenomenom.
~
Poor start can set calves back for life
this document web posted: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 20050224p81
By Michael Raine
Saskatoon newsroom
Calves born under stress are more likely to become ill or die.
Calving difficulty, known as dystocia, may cause problems that last beyond those first days in the corral.
John Campbell of the University of Saskatchewan's Western College of Veterinary Medicine said calves that experience dystocia are more likely to have health problems before weaning.
Higher rates of infection, lack of vigour and poor weight gain may be related to a difficult birth.
It may not be the stress of the birth so much as a lack of timely transfer of colostrum and its associated antibodies passed from the mother, said Campbell.
In the moments after birth, cows need to experience a hormonal bonding process that starts with viewing vigorously wriggling offspring attempting to right themselves. From that moment the females will experience their first cues to attend to their newborns.
Campbell said a calf that has been exhausted after a long and difficult birth might not be able to provide those visual cues. As a result the cow will not be attracted to the calf or approach it and come into contact with its birth fluids.
Hormones in the birth fluids stimulate the mother into more licking and cleaning actions, which in turn induce a maternal process that results in the calf suckling and ingesting maternal antibodies.
Calves that fail to receive colostrum within the first hours of birth are six times more likely to die before weaning.
Campbell said lengthy stays in the birth canal, a Caesarian section or a difficult delivery punctuated by mechanical pulling can lead to mis-mothering of a newborn and eventual health problems.
Initially the newborn may suffer from exhaustion and hypoxia from a lack of oxygen in its system. This results in high acid levels in the blood that leave the newborn sluggish and less attractive to the mother.
"If a calf is taking more than five minutes to get from recumbence to its sternum, then it's likely going to take a helping hand. More than 15 minutes, then it's going to be a bunch of TLC, tubing and other interventions to get it going," he said.
Joe Stookey, a professor of behavioural veterinary medicine at the college, said first-calf heifers are more prone to mismothering, but it can happen with any animal.
"If you can start that chain of events that causes the mother to take those first steps of licking and accepting a newborn, the battle may be half over," he said.
Stookey recommends getting the birth fluids into the nostrils and onto the tongue of the mother as soon as possible and to encourage the struggling behaviour in the newborn.
"Tying an (orphan or twin's) legs (together) so that it goes through the struggling process in front of the target female is important to kicking off the cascade of hormonal events in creating that bond between mother and young."
"Once she's licked the tied (calf), then cut the string and let it try to suckle. If it just goes running to the udder to suckle, that mom is likely as not to kick or head butt it away," he said.
Studies at the U of S and the United States Meat Animal Research Center at Clay Center, Nebraska, show that illness and death losses are lower when these bonding experiences occur.
The Nebraska centre reported that dystocia causes cow and calf losses as well as delayed returns to estrus and reduced conception rates.
Campbell said it adds up to higher veterinary bills and labour cost, and avoiding it altogether is the simplest fix.
The U.S. centre reported that calf losses within 24 hours of birth averaged four percent when unassisted, while assisted births were 16 percent. Assisted births were often a result of larger than average calves or average calves from first-time mothers.
~
Take care.
~
Poor start can set calves back for life
this document web posted: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 20050224p81
By Michael Raine
Saskatoon newsroom
Calves born under stress are more likely to become ill or die.
Calving difficulty, known as dystocia, may cause problems that last beyond those first days in the corral.
John Campbell of the University of Saskatchewan's Western College of Veterinary Medicine said calves that experience dystocia are more likely to have health problems before weaning.
Higher rates of infection, lack of vigour and poor weight gain may be related to a difficult birth.
It may not be the stress of the birth so much as a lack of timely transfer of colostrum and its associated antibodies passed from the mother, said Campbell.
In the moments after birth, cows need to experience a hormonal bonding process that starts with viewing vigorously wriggling offspring attempting to right themselves. From that moment the females will experience their first cues to attend to their newborns.
Campbell said a calf that has been exhausted after a long and difficult birth might not be able to provide those visual cues. As a result the cow will not be attracted to the calf or approach it and come into contact with its birth fluids.
Hormones in the birth fluids stimulate the mother into more licking and cleaning actions, which in turn induce a maternal process that results in the calf suckling and ingesting maternal antibodies.
Calves that fail to receive colostrum within the first hours of birth are six times more likely to die before weaning.
Campbell said lengthy stays in the birth canal, a Caesarian section or a difficult delivery punctuated by mechanical pulling can lead to mis-mothering of a newborn and eventual health problems.
Initially the newborn may suffer from exhaustion and hypoxia from a lack of oxygen in its system. This results in high acid levels in the blood that leave the newborn sluggish and less attractive to the mother.
"If a calf is taking more than five minutes to get from recumbence to its sternum, then it's likely going to take a helping hand. More than 15 minutes, then it's going to be a bunch of TLC, tubing and other interventions to get it going," he said.
Joe Stookey, a professor of behavioural veterinary medicine at the college, said first-calf heifers are more prone to mismothering, but it can happen with any animal.
"If you can start that chain of events that causes the mother to take those first steps of licking and accepting a newborn, the battle may be half over," he said.
Stookey recommends getting the birth fluids into the nostrils and onto the tongue of the mother as soon as possible and to encourage the struggling behaviour in the newborn.
"Tying an (orphan or twin's) legs (together) so that it goes through the struggling process in front of the target female is important to kicking off the cascade of hormonal events in creating that bond between mother and young."
"Once she's licked the tied (calf), then cut the string and let it try to suckle. If it just goes running to the udder to suckle, that mom is likely as not to kick or head butt it away," he said.
Studies at the U of S and the United States Meat Animal Research Center at Clay Center, Nebraska, show that illness and death losses are lower when these bonding experiences occur.
The Nebraska centre reported that dystocia causes cow and calf losses as well as delayed returns to estrus and reduced conception rates.
Campbell said it adds up to higher veterinary bills and labour cost, and avoiding it altogether is the simplest fix.
The U.S. centre reported that calf losses within 24 hours of birth averaged four percent when unassisted, while assisted births were 16 percent. Assisted births were often a result of larger than average calves or average calves from first-time mothers.
~
Take care.
jerry27150
Well-known member
how big of a lot are they in? if there are that many cows in a small lot, the others may be bothering them enough to drive them away from their calf
CKC1586
Well-known member
Angus Breeder:
Is that your beautiful buckskin in your avitar!? Georgous.
Is that your beautiful buckskin in your avitar!? Georgous.
sidney411
Well-known member
I have a 2nd calver that calved sometime on Saturday. She cleaned up the calf then left it laying in the same spot all day. Last night it was still there. I went out to it and grabbed it up by the hind legs to make it holler. She was 2 pastures away with the other cows and this little baby did not need to be in the dark that far from momma. She finally came around with 4 other 2nd calvers due any day and the baby didn't know which one was it's momma. He went to all of them and checked their udders till he found one that was full (his momma) I locked them all in a smaller pasture, 30 acres or so, they can bond better before getting out onto the 125 acres. I am afraid she might lose him in the deep brush and a critter might get him that shouldn't. I walked right up to him and and picked him up, he would be easy prey. I think sometimes the 2nd calver forget, hey this is my baby, I have to take care of it, no one else will. They may need a little remembering lesson. :lol:
Arnold Ziffle
Well-known member
sidney -- How did that cow do with her first calf? Years ago I had one that acted somewhat like yours (she was actually even more nonchalant about it than what you described) with her first and second calves. Both calves were gonners. A few days after the second calf was abandoned I gave the cow a ride to town and I hope she never got a chance to do anything again, other than supply McDonalds with inventory!
sidney411
Well-known member
A.Z. I really don't have a fair comparison. When I calve out heifers I have them in a pasture that is +/-10 acres. They can't really go off and forget baby, and they darn sure can hear when baby is crying for momma. Last year she seemed fine and protective of baby, I had several calve within days and the babies started off together and pretty much stayed together. This one is the 1st to 2nd calve, more should be pretty soon. Hopefully they will band together then and won't be alone long.
