Calving 2018 - Advise and Help thread

grassroot1

I started to cull all cows that gave birth to dead calves a few years ago it has cut stillbirths significantly. I suspect that your calf was dead before calving I find with the sheep anyway if the lamb is not alive the labour progresses slower.
Don't beat yourself up about it **** happens

squinn2912

I agree with the above post. I wouldn’t cull a cow just for the cross section. Have a girl down there with a lovely big black bull calf that she calved herself and I think he’s the 5th since operating, including a set of twins she did a great job on, calving them 2 years ago unaided. If I was thinking of culling anyway the cross section might make up my mind though. The one the other night is going.

Lady Haywire

The vet advised against putting her incalf again because of her pelvis, said she'd never be able to calve herself because of whatever sharp point it came to. We could get one leg forward but then when we went to bring the second forward, the other would slip back as it was catching somewhere. Maybe greysides can be more exact with anatomy here but that's what the vet was saying to me as he handled her.

We've kept sectioned cows before with no issue, so her having one is not the main reason for culling. Calf is still down, sore back legs but has 3 litres of biestings got. Think i might cull the cow and bucket feed the calf if he's not sucking her in a few days, as said above she wasn't great for milk last year at all and only for we had two cows break she'd have gotten gate.

farawaygrass

grassroot1 wrote: »

I started to cull all cows that gave birth to dead calves a few years ago it has cut stillbirths significantly. I suspect that your calf was dead before calving I find with the sheep anyway if the lamb is not alive the labour progresses slower.
Don't beat yourself up about it **** happens

If I handled her earlier and calf was dead then I wouldn’t mind as much, just feel it’s neglect on my part. I was even thinking of keeping her again next year but decided now not too. I could literally jump up on her back in the middle of a field. Half thinking of buying a suck and try get her to take it but seems a lot of hassle. Can you skin a calf before the Knackery takes away the dead calf?

charolais0153

farawaygrass wrote: »

Can you skin a calf before the Knackery takes away the dead calf?

Ya why not.

greysides

The situation that the story reminds me of is where the bone roof of the canal was too low in an animal that had recovered from an injury.

greysides

farawaygrass wrote: »

. I was even thinking of keeping her again next year but decided now not too.

Give it a lash, you know you want to. It's not all about money.

Never wrestle with pigs

Lady Haywire wrote: »

The vet advised against putting her incalf again because of her pelvis, said she'd never be able to calve herself because of whatever sharp point it came to. We could get one leg forward but then when we went to bring the second forward, the other would slip back as it was catching somewhere. Maybe greysides can be more exact with anatomy here but that's what the vet was saying to me as he handled her.

We've kept sectioned cows before with no issue, so her having one is not the main reason for culling. Calf is still down, sore back legs but has 3 litres of biestings got. Think i might cull the cow and bucket feed the calf if he's not sucking her in a few days, as said above she wasn't great for milk last year at all and only for we had two cows break she'd have gotten gate.

Had one the exact same this year. Second calver. Had a slight pull last year with a very handy heifer. Didn't need to handle her last year as everything was presented correctly but just ropes on and a pull. This year presented the same as yours. Grand helthey bull but she'll not go incalf again. Don't need that hardship.

High bike

Have one with the tail in the air for the last couple of hrs, hope it's not going to be a long night

High bike

Happy days nice heifer calf up an all but the bitch of a cow 3rd Calver is kicking the sh1 t out of her when she goes to suck,the beasties is defrosting

Lady Haywire

High bike wrote: »

Happy days nice heifer calf up an all but the bitch of a cow 3rd Calver is kicking the sh1 t out of her when she goes to suck,the beasties is defrosting

Same is happening with my section calf, kicking the poor wee beastie. So looks like she's getting gate & I have a suckie calf. Unless some miracle happens before i feed it in the morning.:D

Mooooo

Hard to beat the aa, pulled one from a heifer there and the front legs were kicking to go as soon as the head was out. Had cow not progress8ng as well and handled her, she was open and calf presented right so pulled the calf, all the fluid was yellow, wasn't a hard pull dunno why she didn't get on with it. Maybe subclinical milk fever? Solid on her feet anyway

TITANIUM.

Lady Haywire wrote: »

Same is happening with my section calf, kicking the poor wee beastie. So looks like she's getting gate & I have a suckie calf. Unless some miracle happens before i feed it in the morning.:D

Well is the cow on the full list?

Lady Haywire

TITANIUM. wrote: »

Well is the cow on the full list?

He hadn't sucked this morning but am trying him on her later when she's getting her last shots, he's trying in the pen but gets tired on his back legs and she's also a bitch of a kicker, though he was sucking her flank this morning with no kicks so maybe.....I'll let you know how i get on around 3 when he's hungry & she's stuck in the headlock gate

tanko

Would it be possible to tie her leg back to a post in the crush so that she cant kick the calf when he tries to suck, without getting your arm broken in the process.

Lady Haywire

Succeeded....sort of! Caught the cow backward in the crush, gave her mash & brought the calf over after giving him half a litre so he was looking for the teat. Managed to get him sucking one half of her anyway. Had her tail up her back so she wasn't able to kick him.
Then was giving her the last penicillin so swung the gate round to hold her against the wall. Needle in, she threw her head up and nailed me with a kick right to the thigh, nearly knocked me for six. It's still fecking dead now!

I kicked her back though so alls even between us.:pac:

High bike

Lady Haywire wrote: »

Same is happening with my section calf, kicking the poor wee beastie. So looks like she's getting gate & I have a suckie calf. Unless some miracle happens before i feed it in the morning.:D

not a bother on her today whatever came over her last night

Lady Haywire

High bike wrote: »

not a bother on her today whatever came over her last night

Mine too! Gave him a litre there now & then latched him onto the cow & left him sucking away & mother making little motherly moos at him.

anthony500_1

Lady Haywire wrote:

Mine too! Gave him a litre there now & then latched him onto the cow & left him sucking away & mother making little motherly moos at him.

It's amazing what a bit of effort over a few days will do, these are the ones you look back and think, you little ****, but that's life, if it was easy everyone would be at it

squinn2912

A loss here last night. Cow not making much progress so I took her in to handle her and the legs had bent, head overtaking them and jamming. I got the legs sorted out and the calf out but too late. I’m furious with myself there was no need to lose that calf. Great big red heifer.

ELP

squinn2912 wrote: »

A loss here last night. Cow not making much progress so I took her in to handle her and the legs had bent, head overtaking them and jamming. I got the legs sorted out and the calf out but too late. I’m furious with myself there was no need to lose that calf. Great big red heifer.

I'm in the same boat here my cow that was putting her calf bed out called. Checked her last night going to bed nothing up this morning at 4. I foot out other bent back pulled calf dead and the other twin dead also.

squinn2912

DRive you man wouldn’t it. I put another girl jnlast night and no progress this morning. I handled her and I was a mile too early. Tail back down a bit now and she’s feeding away etc with no sign of calving. Just hope I did no harm

Lady Haywire

Hard to get the timing right all the time, sucks when you get it arseways. I'd def prefer to handle too early than too late though, you won't cause any harm to the cow & lets yourself have a bit more peace of mind.

tanko

Had a six year old cow calve here five hours ago, perfectly normal calving and pretty quick too, Sim bull calf up and sucking half an hour after birth.

The cow hasnt passed the cleaning yet and is lying down with her tail out pressing a bit. She's not too happy looking. Havent seen this happen before. How much longer would you leave her before handling her?

greysides

Handle now and check for twin.

ELP

Going to dry off cow that lots the twins. She has a big bag of milk do I just need to get tubes for her?

grassroot1

tanko wrote: »

Had a six year old cow calve here five hours ago, perfectly normal calving and pretty quick too, Sim bull calf up and sucking half an hour after birth.

The cow hasnt passed the cleaning yet and is lying down with her tail out pressing a bit. She's not too happy looking. Havent seen this happen before. How much longer would you leave her before handling her?

Well any update?

tanko

Yeah, cow cleaned an hour ago. Chewing her cud now, all good, no twins.

squinn2912

Back to winning ways tonight with a nice lively black lim heifer

bogman_bass

Found a 19 month old heifer making an attempt to cAlve in the field this morning. Brought her home. Had the dinner and fair play to her she calved herself!

bogman_bass

Found a 19 month old heifer making an attempt to cAlve in the field this morning. Brought her home. Had the dinner and fair play to her she calved herself!

bogman_bass

Found a 19 month old heifer making an attempt to cAlve in the field this morning. Brought her home. Had the dinner and fair play to her she calved herself!

tanko

Triplets, fair play to her indeed!!!

squinn2912

Haha!
Our heifer did all the work too. She perfectly timed everything to allow me to watch the Liverpool game. I just pulled the last of the hind legs and woke the calf up round 11. Nice black bb calf to a lim heifer. Well happy.
On a wee break away with the other half now just woke from a nap

Angus2018

Nice uneventful run of calvings here. Down to 9 and all with an easy calving Angus.

Calf just born here 30 mins ago, might get it up on it's feet and assist suckling so I can go to bed.

squinn2912

Angus2018 wrote: »

Nice uneventful run of calvings here. Down to 9 and all with an easy calving Angus.

Calf just born here 30 mins ago, might get it up on it's feet and assist suckling so I can go to bed.

That’s good work. You reckon there’s much need with the angus? 9/10 times I would be for bed if all looks right and let him figure out how to get up himself! 5 to go here just off the phone to home; nothing tonight.

Angus2018

There isn't with Angus and the cow was on meal, lick and silage the last few days so the calf is full of energy. I do it just for peace of mind mostly since I'm up. I nice to know it's standing, got its beestings and the navel has been iondined.

patsy_mccabe

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

.... My last clow left is 'showing the reed' as ye call it too. Only second calver and don't want to get rid of her. Have a feeling she's carrying twins.

This girl calved last night. No twins, average to large sized bull only. Cow looks very empty too. Calving over for the year. Went well enough. Only had to pull one calf and that was one that came backwards and I lost. Heifer, not cow, so not so bad overall. Good shape to all the calves too. You can see the ardlea dan (ADX) influence carrying through from the bull. He's sired by him.

Angus2018

Well done, good to be finished I'd say and in time for the change in weather.

charolais0153

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

This girl calved last night. No twins, average to large sized bull only. Cow looks very empty too. Calving over for the year. Went well enough. Only had to pull one calf and that was one that came backwards and I lost. Heifer, not cow, so not so bad overall. Good shape to all the calves too. You can see the ardlea dan (ADX) influence carrying through from the bull. He's sired by him.

Finished with a month here too. 18 calfs from 17 cows. Pulled 6 of them. Good end result. Biggest problem was 1st calfers

Who2

finished here today, one loss on a red limo heifer that was in fact a blue by sfl when i checked here breeding. got him out alive with a struggle but the heifer slipped and fell on him later that night. im still kicking myself over it. No scours so to speak of and no real hassle thank god.

reps4

20 from 21 here with 1 left to go in 6wks. Lost 1st one, caught at hips. Was a monster out of stock bull for some unknown reason. Same Cow calved him with no prob last yr. All fine then up to last 2.. section on a4th calver as she never dilated and then a second calver put her vessel out after calving a small heifer.

Angus2018

Some cows can be strange like that, biggest cow on the farm had a tiny calf one year but the next was on one of the biggest that year.

Just about to head to bed here for some much needed rest and I see a heifer running around with her tail up on the cameras. Moved her to the calving pens, no problems calving, she just lay down and push, calf up on its feet in 30 mins and assisted suckling with no kicking. Now if it only happened during the day where so don't lose half a nights sleep that would be nice!

anthony500_1

My eby heifer out of a blue cow that I was dreading calved early this morning, bull broke into her at 12mts old and only bulled her the once, couldn't believe my eyes as I was there to see it all, the smallest lmx heifer I have, said I'd take a chance on her if she held, i was dreading it. Checked her at 3am, no sign checked here again at 6am, a lovely marked heifer calf just trying to stand, delighted to say the least put the heifer in and she has a nice tidy bag of milk and she let the calf suck no problem, she was like an old pro

bogman_bass

I totally jinxed myself the other night. Said to the vet that I never had a cow prolapse. What did she do 5 minutes later?

Lady Haywire

bogman_bass wrote: »

I totally jinxed myself the other night. Said to the vet that I never had a cow prolapse. What did she do 5 minutes later?

The crossword in the journal? :pac:

whelan2

vet was saying today that they did nearly 30 sections on one farm this spring :eek:

Dunedin

whelan2 wrote: »

vet was saying today that they did nearly 30 sections on one farm this spring :eek:

Out of how many calves? What bull?

Something serious wrong with management there with that number regardless of the bull.

whelan2

Dunedin wrote: »

Out of how many calves? What bull?

Something serious wrong with management there with that number regardless of the bull.

He just said totally wrong bull choice and some other factors.

High bike

whelan2 wrote: »

vet was saying today that they did nearly 30 sections on one farm this spring :eek:

and a vets bill in the region of 9000