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to pull or not to pull....

J

jigs

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Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
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Location
KANSAS
went out this morning and saw a heifer with feet hanging out, got her locked in the headgate, and the one foot was back a little, and once we got that foot lined up, the head popped out, but then the heifer was tired, and it took a little bit to get the calf on out. the calf was alive and flopping around as we pulled but when he hit the ground, he was dead.

wife said I pushed nature, I say i had to. tounge was hanging out already when we found her, soi am guessing she was laboring for a while....

just curious as to the public opinions if I screwed up......
 
Nope, you should've pulled it, especially when they're that far along and not making progress.

Strange that it died though. Sorry you lost one.
 
Yep, I agree. Besides which, if the feet and nose were there, pulling it wasn't the reason the calf died. Most likely you are right and she was just at it too long.
 
I can handle losing a calf, but the endless ash chewing gets to me.....

on heifers, what is an average live birth %?? one guy told me this morning that if he got 50% of his heifers to raise a calf he was happy...i found that very suprising!
 
jigs said:
I can handle losing a calf, but the endless ash chewing gets to me.....

on heifers, what is an average live birth %?? one guy told me this morning that if he got 50% of his heifers to raise a calf he was happy...i found that very suprising!
Click to expand...

Sounds like he has very low expectations. I want my heifers to calve on their own and raise a good calf too. They usually do not let me down.

You did the right thing assisting her as everyone else has stated.
 
I had a group of 30 heifers that calved this spring and brought in 28 calves and we didn't do anything to help any of them. Just left it to mother nature.
 
I always have this fight with my wife...I want to wait, she wants to get it.
My vet always said...if you can see something and got her caught, pull it. He said a calf can survive at 8 months. Had a cow calf this past year almost a month before the time the bull was put in...the calf looked like it was only 8 months old.

Interesting the calf died that quick...did you use just chains or a puller?
 
jigs said:
I can handle losing a calf, but the endless ash chewing gets to me.....

on heifers, what is an average live birth %?? one guy told me this morning that if he got 50% of his heifers to raise a calf he was happy...i found that very suprising!
Click to expand...

:shock: i'll tell you one thing, 50% is not acceptable here. what kind of conditions are he and his heifers in that he would be happy with 50%? does he calve his heifers with a pack of wolves :???: :? i would expect 95% of my heifers to raise a calf. a few don't raise the best calves, but they do raise one.
 
well it blew my mind when he said 50%..thought I must have too high of expectations !! what kind of guy is happy with half a crop??

no calf jack for me, I had my chains in the other truck, so I used twine and pulled by hand... I always get nervous with a calf jack....by hand you can feel the tension a bit better...or at least I feel like I am easier on the cow that way...
 
Jigs, If your weather is like mine....pull the calf. It wouldn't have survived anyway, if left unassisted, today. Some years ago I lost a calf and it really bothered me. I was talking to my Vet. Looking for an answer. He told me, God doesn't intend for all of them to live. I realized it was something I had no control over. We do our best,but it's all in God's hands. If your wife can't cut you any slack, let her calve out the heifers. Let her be the one to make the call. It's so easy to be an "armchair quarterback". Step up and be a helper. None of us need more criticism, but help is always welcome.
 
When ever I have had heifers if I see something that looks like they have problems I just go in a give her help, but I do give them time to get it out on their own. I always look at it like this is their first go around and they dont quite know whats going on.

I calved out 50 heifers last winter and I had a 100% calf crop, I don't understand with being happy with a 50% crop. Mine was a small herd now a friend of mine calved out 500 head for him and another guy and he lost 25% which he didn't think was to bad. The guy you talked to he must have more money than most people that can get by with that.
 

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