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WHEN???????????

S

shiloh

Member
Joined
May 2, 2011
Messages
22
Location
Wellston, OK
Hi I'm new here and I have a question. My pregnant angus cow is supposed to have her calf today or tomorrow. I know I shouldn't but I am getting very impatient. I have her closed up in the pasture where I can see her. But since this is my first cow, I want to be able to be there when it happens! :mad: Her udder area is normal, I think it looks like she might be kind of sinking in on the sides, but what other signs can you look for so I can be out there when it starts "happening"?(I'm sure you guys have answered a million and one of this same questions). Is patience just a virtue? :???:
 
shiloh said:
Hi I'm new here and I have a question. My pregnant angus cow is supposed to have her calf today or tomorrow. I know I shouldn't but I am getting very impatient. I have her closed up in the pasture where I can see her. But since this is my first cow, I want to be able to be there when it happens! :mad: Her udder area is normal, I think it looks like she might be kind of sinking in on the sides, but what other signs can you look for so I can be out there when it starts "happening"?(I'm sure you guys have answered a million and one of this same questions). Is patience just a virtue? :???:
Click to expand...

A watched pot won't boil. :wink: :-)
 
Well, you can kinda divide birth into stages.

stage 1: Might last up to 24 hours. Restless, pacing, going off by herself, tail twitching, nervous, maybe kinda looking for privacy/isolation. you might see kinda a mucus plug dangling.

stage 2: she's trying to deliver. water bag out. then toes. if toes are right side up, it's frontwards. upside down and it's backwards---or very rarely---upside down. then comes a nose.

The cow might want to be left alone, if she's the nervous type, every time you get too close she kinda has to sorta start over.

She might be getting up and down a lot anyhow. Circling, then laying back down. If it's coming normal and she's making progress, leave her alone. When calf gets out, make sure it ain't got a bag over it's head, that it's airway is clear. maybe stick a straw up it's nose and make it sneeze. The easiest way for it to breath is like a lion in front of the bank---upright, hind legs ahead on either side, front legs forward. Sometimes they dumped on their head and it kinda gets twisted under their body--you wanta rectify that.

stage 2 might take an hour or so. Don't freak out if it's head and chest are out and it's breathing/bawling---and it's kinda natural for some cows to take a break about now---umbilical cord should still have it on life support.

Some cows take longer than others, and take breaks. Usually lay down once they get serious. Generally on right side, paunch in on left---this gives birth canal a straighter shot.

stage 3 is delivery of the placenta. might take up to 24 hours.

one purpose of the waterbag is to dilate cervix. If feet are out and you gotta intervene and water bag is still intact, slash it open, it's job is done.
 
I feel one of the things to look for is when she "drops" if she is still carrying the calf fairly high up on the side she probably has a few more days to go.

Cows are just like people, She might come on her due date, she might come a month earlier, she might come a month late.

Most times just check her from a distance she is comfortable with a couple of times a day and leave her alone unless she really needs help.

Hope all goes well!
 
Don't ask me, because I can't tell :? :? :? If they are sunk in around the tailhead, the calf has turned and they will usually have a waterbag in 24 hours. Don't worry if the calf is a week late. I have one going now that is 5 days late from when I saw the bull with her. No water, but all sunk in. She'll have one in the am if not before. Either that or next week sometime :wink: . I'll let ya know.
 
Shortgrass said:
Don't ask me, because I can't tell :? :? :? If they are sunk in around the tailhead, the calf has turned and they will usually have a waterbag in 24 hours. Don't worry if the calf is a week late. I have one going now that is 5 days late from when I saw the bull with her. No water, but all sunk in. She'll have one in the am if not before. Either that or next week sometime :wink: . I'll let ya know.
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Around here we say "Well at least she's getting closer" :D
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
Shortgrass said:
Don't ask me, because I can't tell :? :? :? If they are sunk in around the tailhead, the calf has turned and they will usually have a waterbag in 24 hours. Don't worry if the calf is a week late. I have one going now that is 5 days late from when I saw the bull with her. No water, but all sunk in. She'll have one in the am if not before. Either that or next week sometime :wink: . I'll let ya know.
Click to expand...


Around here we say "Well at least she's getting closer" :D
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When there's two feet poised like a high-diver I know they're calving. :D

Waterbag and no progression after a bit it's time to be concerned. :wink:
 
Shortgrass said:
Don't ask me, because I can't tell :? :? :? If they are sunk in around the tailhead, the calf has turned and they will usually have a waterbag in 24 hours. Don't worry if the calf is a week late. I have one going now that is 5 days late from when I saw the bull with her. No water, but all sunk in. She'll have one in the am if not before. Either that or next week sometime :wink: . I'll let ya know.
Click to expand...

She had a fine young bull with her this morning. :D
 
If you are really watching, and it sounds like you are, there is a slimy plug of mucous that comes out a day or so before she calves. This is what has been sealing the cervix, and has to go before she calves. It's easy to miss it though. We just use this as a sign that this cow is not in labour yet, but that she's getting prepared for it.
 
I have found you can tell they are close (within about a day) when they start to, for lack of a better word, purging their system, most the cows we have had in, to calve, will start passing smaller and smaller amounts of manure, but frequently thru out the day. Not all do this but the ones that did, calved the same day.
 
Still hasn't calved. Is she really even pregnant????? :???: Ya, there is not a cow in the world that's that fat and not pregnant!! :) At least i don't think there is!!! Anyways her hips are real pronounced and she is sunk in and her back end is big and flabby. So it has to be close doesn't it?????
 
Sadly, I didn't get to see it! But I almost did. Probably no more than an hour! It was a bull :mad: I kind-of wanted a heifer! He's a healthy and happy little calf. I don't know how much it weighed though. Does anybody have a chart so I can measure around the heart girth and tell how much it weighs? Anyways, I'm SO happy that everything went safely and soundly. :D
 
You should be able to trade the bull at weaning for a hiefer as the bull ( steer) is worth more to feed out and then you will have a non related hiefer to breed back.
 
Some vet supply stores sell a tape you use to measure around a front foot just at the beginning of the hair. I tried one for a while just out of curiosity and it worked out real close to the scale. I don't know how accurate they are once the calf has some age on it though.
 

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