What do I need for heifer who will calve in end Feb

[Christaonahorse]

Hi there! This is my first time having a heifer calve at my house and I am wondering what I should have immediately on hand for the calving time? She is a Maine/Angus/Simmetal cross that is a very big girl. I would put a pic up but I can't figure out how! lol She was bred May 22, 2010 and her projected due date is Feb. 28, 2011, so the calving date is quickly approaching!
Also, I'm wondering what opinions are there for where to put her during calving time? She currently lives in a field with four horses, a goat, and two livestock gaurdian dogs. I'm wanting to seperate her from the horses because they are too pushy for a newborn calf. I have one of two options: A pen that is 24X18 feet and close to the house or a one acre field that is much further away from the house. Or is it better to put her close to the house for calving and then move her to the larger field with her calf after a couple weeks in the pen? Ideally I'd like to keep her closeby as long as possible, but I just dont know if that pen is big enough for calving in?
Also, I have a premade shelter, but is it necessary for her and the calf if there is no shelter available?

 

[hillsdown]

Where are you located, where you are calving her out has alot to do with our response. Besides that I would keep her close so you can watch her and have someone on call if you need help with the calving, neighbor ,vet ect .


BTW :welcome: to CT :tiphat:

 

[piedmontese]

24x18 is big enough for her to calve in. would put her in there a week before her due date so she can get accustomed to her new home.its nice to try and keep the poo cleaned up as much as possible too so the newborn dont have to lay n it.depending on how pushy your horses r u may have to keep them seperated for quite awile.a horse could run a new baby a heck of alot and u dont wanna stress the calf.

 

[CKC1586]

A fella near hear had 4 of his calves killed by the horses that were running with his cattle. If this is her first calf (since you indicated "heifer") you will want to keep a close eye on her, I would pen her up.

 

[Christaonahorse]

Thanks everybody!
hillsdown: I live in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, so hopefully by end of Feb the weather will start to lighten up a bit, although the Farmers Almanac is calling for a snow storm close to the end of Feb!
piedmontese: Luckily, this is the pen she grew up in, so she is very well accustomed to it, so it won't be at all stressful for her! And of course poo will be mucked every afternoon! I do not like my barnyard dirty!

CKC1586: Of course, I would never dream of letting her stay with the horses, one is typically moody and is too unpredictable to keep around new animals. I was just in a toss up of seperating her into a bigger field by herself or her old pen...

Also, another question for you all... What is good bedding material? I used to have mulch in the pen but took it all out since no animals really stay in there and I didn't want larvae infestation. Now its just a blue stone base, practically as hard as black top.
And do you all think a shelter is needed for birthing?

Thank you so much!!!!

 

[Christaonahorse]

This is Nella, the heifer! AlI my questions are meant for her!

 

[piedmontese]

i like to use hay or straw for bedding.no a shelter is not needed for calving.the majority of calves are born out n the open,but if u got shelter y not use it.i got a small sheltered area that i will use if it is supposed to get nasty out.i see that your cow is a holstein x.u better watch that she dont give alot more milk than her calf can eat or u could have problems.u may need to buy a 2nd calf to put on her.i got 1 holstein x cow and she milks quite a bit but 1 calf keeps her milked out enough.what is your cow x with?

 

[hillsdown]

i like to use hay or straw for bedding.no a shelter is not needed for calving.the majority of calves are born out n the open,but if u got shelter y not use it.i got a small sheltered area that i will use if it is supposed to get nasty out.i see that your cow is a holstein x.u better watch that she dont give alot more milk than her calf can eat or u could have problems.u may need to buy a 2nd calf to put on her.i got 1 holstein x cow and she milks quite a bit but 1 calf keeps her milked out enough.what is your cow x with?

She is a Maine/Angus/Simmi cross ,where do you get Holstein from ?????????


A nice straw pack will work fine for her and her calf in the shelter ; just buy some small squares and add more when it needs it. Happy calving Christa and hope all goes well ..

 

[piedmontese]

i like to use hay or straw for bedding.no a shelter is not needed for calving.the majority of calves are born out n the open,but if u got shelter y not use it.i got a small sheltered area that i will use if it is supposed to get nasty out.i see that your cow is a holstein x.u better watch that she dont give alot more milk than her calf can eat or u could have problems.u may need to buy a 2nd calf to put on her.i got 1 holstein x cow and she milks quite a bit but 1 calf keeps her milked out enough.what is your cow x with?

She is a Maine/Angus/Simmi cross ,where do you get Holstein from ?????????


A nice straw pack will work fine for her and her calf in the shelter ; just buy some small squares and add more when it needs it. Happy calving Christa and hope all goes well ..

i guess i thought she was holstein x bcause of her color being that of a holstein.

 

[dun]

i guess i thought she was holstein x bcause of her color being that of a holstein.

Or a Maine Anjou

 

[Christaonahorse]

Thanks everybody!
And she is a heatwave calf so she has got some unusual coloring for a beef cow! People always are baffled by her at fairs, is it a dairy? It sure is beefy to be a dairy! lol

And I am still wondering what all should I have on hand for the birthing? I mean if anything starts to go astray I'll call the vet out, but if everything goes well or I can't wait for a vet to show up what should I have?

 

[dun]

Thanks everybody!
And she is a heatwave calf so she has got some unusual coloring for a beef cow! People always are baffled by her at fairs, is it a dairy? It sure is beefy to be a dairy! lol

And I am still wondering what all should I have on hand for the birthing? I mean if anything starts to go astray I'll call the vet out, but if everything goes well or I can't wait for a vet to show up what should I have?

A halter, chains or some kind of rope to use to pull the calf if needed, OB gloves, a bottle of mineral oil if you need to slickery things up, iodine to dip the navel, patience, and the knowledge of when to help and when not to. The patience is the most important part, don;t keep checking on her, can make her nervous and delay calving/labor. If things go haywire it will be soon enough to worry about possible colostrum replacer, bottle and nipples, etc.

 

[jcarkie]

good advice keep her close but start early so she will adjust, also i start checking at night with a flashlight early enough, aleast a couple weeks, that when time comes they dont even notice anymore. i check before bed everynight

 

[msscamp]

Hi there! This is my first time having a heifer calve at my house and I am wondering what I should have immediately on hand for the calving time? She is a Maine/Angus/Simmetal cross that is a very big girl. I would put a pic up but I can't figure out how! lol She was bred May 22, 2010 and her projected due date is Feb. 28, 2011, so the calving date is quickly approaching!
Also, I'm wondering what opinions are there for where to put her during calving time? She currently lives in a field with four horses, a goat, and two livestock gaurdian dogs. I'm wanting to seperate her from the horses because they are too pushy for a newborn calf. I have one of two options: A pen that is 24X18 feet and close to the house or a one acre field that is much further away from the house. Or is it better to put her close to the house for calving and then move her to the larger field with her calf after a couple weeks in the pen? Ideally I'd like to keep her closeby as long as possible, but I just dont know if that pen is big enough for calving in?
Also, I have a premade shelter, but is it necessary for her and the calf if there is no shelter available?

Since this is your first time the first thing I would have on hand would be your vets phone number, his/her permission to call with questions you might have, and how late they would be willing to deal with those questions - yes, I'm dead serious here. That does 2 things - it reassures you, and it also tells you what kind of a vet you have. Meanwhile, get on the internet and google 'calving out heifers' - again, I'm dead serious. That way you know what to expect, what to look for, have information about how to monitor her progress and tell if something is wrong, and don't drive your vet completely bonkers with every little question.

You are right to want to get her away from the horses, and a 24 X 18 foot pen is plenty big enough for her to calve in. You don't want to pen her in there for any longer than necessary, though, because it will limit her exercise and could lead to problems with atrophied muscles if she is penned for a long length of time. If she were mine, I would watch her and when her bag became strutted and she had dilated enough to be very loose and floppy, I would move her to the pen and shed. Whether the shed is necessary or not depends on where you live and what your weather is like. If you are subject to ice storms, snow, wind, and single digit or below zero temperatures, the shed will hedge your bet and the calf's survival if - and it's a big if - the mother is smart enough to use it. Make sure to keep it clean so ammonia fumes don't build up. Another factor to consider before moving her to larger field is going to be whether or not you have predators nearby, and what kind of predators you have. A lone heifer is not capable of fending off predators with a calf that is only a couple of weeks old because the calf tends to bolt and run. The calf has to be old enough that he/she knows to stay with her mother for her mother to be effective at dealing with predators, and that doesn't usually happen until 2-3 weeks of age or older. Even then, it can get dicey real fast. Just my thoughts, and I hope it helps.

 

[Christaonahorse]

Thank you so much! That really does indeed help!!

Can you all give me a typical before, during, and after scenerio of what you do?
Because checking her every night before bed with a flash light was a great idea to get her used to the idea!

 

[3waycross]

Thank you so much! That really does indeed help!!

Can you all give me a typical before, during, and after scenerio of what you do?
Because checking her every night before bed with a flash light was a great idea to get her used to the idea!

She said to Google calving out heifers. Did you try that?

 

[msscamp]

Can you all give me a typical before, during, and after scenerio of what you do?

Sure, I can tell you how we handled calving. Our cows and heifers were on pasture. Considering the climate in Wyoming, they were fed in the corral each morning and, after feeding, we checked each and every one to see who was dilated, discharging and what kind of discharge, restless, just nibbling as opposed to really eating, and how strutted their udder was. Heifers were sorted off and penned depending on what we observed with regard to the aforementioned criteria. We also did a head count and, if we came up short, we saddled a horse and went looking. Cattle that are fixing to calve are usually restless, may be off feed, don't act quite right, may be skittish, nervous or aggressive, or will otherwise just be "off" somehow. If you know how your cattle act under normal circumstances, you will know when something is wrong. Some will be vocal, others won't. I can't put it any better than that. A lot of times you will know when she is going to calve long before she does IF you know them. Listen to your instincts. I know that sounds stupid, but it's true. We checked penned heifers every 2 or 3 hours - especially at night. Up here it can get brutally cold at night, we have a lot of wind, and checking them on a regular basis can mean the difference between a live, nursing calf or a dead calf. Another reason to check them regularly is it is very difficult to pull a calf from an exhausted heifer, and a hard labor will cause the calf's head to swell and interfere with his ability to nurse. Both of which can and do lead to dead, or dummy calves that take a long time to figure out how to nurse. Tubing calves should only be done when absolutely necessary, because it tends to cause sore throats that make a calf not want to swallow and also leads to problems with nursing.

Once labor was apparent, we checked them at 30 minute intervals or so - depending on where she was in the labor process - being careful to not disturb her any more than absolutely necessary, until it was clear that the calf was up and sucking. If you look at your animals, you will notice that the appearance of their tits changes from a dull sheen to a shiny appearance when their udder becomes strutted, and are usually obviously engorged(strutted) right before calving. Don't depend on the strutted appearance, however, because some heifers don't strut until they are/have calved. After the calf has sucked one or more tits - usually the front ones - will look different. They will be less shiny and less engorged, and the hair on their udder will change from laying flat and looking kind of wispy, to becoming curly, matted, damp looking, and visually disturbed. Once the calf is up and sucking, check him again in an hour or so to make sure he is okay, and life is good.

In the event that the calf was born in a snowstorm, or on a particularly cold night and was a bit slow to get up and suck, we jump-started him with a 16 ounce bottle of warmed up store-bought milk in a bottle with a sheep nipple. It just started a bit of a fire in his belly, warmed him up a bit from the inside, and gave him the strength to get up and nurse. We never calved in a barn, and very rarely in a shed, although we did put out old, crappy hay for bedding when the corrals became sloppy or had a lot of snow in them. That's how we did it, and I hope this helps you.

PS. I probably should also mention that our pens were constructed out of pipe and guard rail, and they provided a good bit of protection against the wind.