My wife and I took the plunge earlier this year and bought 2 cows (4yr and 8yr) together with their calves from this time last year.
The cows are now due to deliver again over the coming weeks and we are looking forward to some new arrivals.
We have some hay on stand by and some Colostrum. What other preparations should we be considering to be prepared for the arrivals?
The cows are in a field with mature trees and hedges for cover. In with the two mothers are last year's calves, a heifer born in Nov and a steer born this Jan. There is no barn available (yet) as a sick bay but I could use a 10ft livestock trailer if required.
Any suggestions or advice would be gratefully received.
One further question; after the birth, am I better to keep mother and calf in the field with the others or would they be better off given peace in an adjacent field?
Thanks.
Calving preparations - Advice for a newbie to calving please
-
Broomcroft
- Posts: 3005
- Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2006 4:42 am
- Location: Shropshire, England
- Contact:
Dexters may wait for you to disappear before calving, try to watch from a distance. But if they are really used to you, they may just carry on regardless. But you know your animals best.
If they are taking a long time after the bag appears, there is probably be something wrong. If they haven't calved within 2 hours of the bag showing, I would call the vet or someone who know how to calve because it is possibly a bad presentation.
If you don't see 2 feet and a nose or tongue, it's a bad presentation, call your vet/friend pronto. But note that sometimes you get one foot and a tongue when they are just starting and then a second foot appears. If forwards but upside down (unlikely), go inside and try a flip the calf around, it's easier than it sounds. Try to do that using the legs not just the head.
When her calf is born be VERY careful. Your nice little pet may try and kill you. Be extra careful for a few days.
Some heifers may not take to the calf after all they've been through, so get mom and calf into a pen, pref with some cover from sun/weather, keep them clean and mom should take the calf. Don't delay with this but don't rush it either.
Calf must suckle within 6 hours, if you are not fairly sure, give the calf some man-made colostrum (about 250ml). Ideally you will already have a pack ready for use but hopefully it will not be needed. I use a lamb bottle with old-fashioned type teat (not the little red things). If in doubt, give the colostrum, it won't hurt and it means you can go to bed.
Alternatively, get the calf to suckle mom if you can. Not always easy!
The final sign of a cow coming up to actually calve is (usually but not always) her udder getting big and tight. That usually means they are going to calve within 24-48 hours I would say.
If there is another calf already in the field, they may start to try and mother it thinking it is theirs. Again, this will mean calving is due within I would say 24 hours.
When born spray umbillical liberally with terramecin (from vet) or dip in iodine. We do former, but not so important out in a clean field but do it if you can. Repeat it 1/2 day later because mom will lick it all off.
Out in the field, we always calve them in groups. The cow/heifer should go off on her own or maybe with one pal.
You need to be ready to get her in somewhere. Doesn't sound a though a livestock trailer would be any good, so I would beg borrow or steal a couple of gates (12'-14') and be ready with string to make up a pen in the corner of a field. Ideally, you will already make this up and also get her used to going into it for food (in an ideal world anyhow!).
I would have a halter ready for her head if you need to tie her up, as well as somewhere in that pen capable of tying the halter to.
They can calve any time, especially heifers, but cows will more usually calf in the early hours presumably to give their newborn calf as many daylight hours a possible, but don't rely on that.
Most of all, with first calving, stay calm and patient. I don;t bother removing other animals from the field but don't leave bulls in usually.
EXCEPT....if you see the back legs coming out first, then forget the calm and patient bit, just get your calving ropes (you need those), and get that calf out as quickly as you can before it drowns, because the umbilical (spelling?) will break but the head is still inside.
Good luck.
Edited By Broomcroft on 1289655413
If they are taking a long time after the bag appears, there is probably be something wrong. If they haven't calved within 2 hours of the bag showing, I would call the vet or someone who know how to calve because it is possibly a bad presentation.
If you don't see 2 feet and a nose or tongue, it's a bad presentation, call your vet/friend pronto. But note that sometimes you get one foot and a tongue when they are just starting and then a second foot appears. If forwards but upside down (unlikely), go inside and try a flip the calf around, it's easier than it sounds. Try to do that using the legs not just the head.
When her calf is born be VERY careful. Your nice little pet may try and kill you. Be extra careful for a few days.
Some heifers may not take to the calf after all they've been through, so get mom and calf into a pen, pref with some cover from sun/weather, keep them clean and mom should take the calf. Don't delay with this but don't rush it either.
Calf must suckle within 6 hours, if you are not fairly sure, give the calf some man-made colostrum (about 250ml). Ideally you will already have a pack ready for use but hopefully it will not be needed. I use a lamb bottle with old-fashioned type teat (not the little red things). If in doubt, give the colostrum, it won't hurt and it means you can go to bed.
Alternatively, get the calf to suckle mom if you can. Not always easy!
The final sign of a cow coming up to actually calve is (usually but not always) her udder getting big and tight. That usually means they are going to calve within 24-48 hours I would say.
If there is another calf already in the field, they may start to try and mother it thinking it is theirs. Again, this will mean calving is due within I would say 24 hours.
When born spray umbillical liberally with terramecin (from vet) or dip in iodine. We do former, but not so important out in a clean field but do it if you can. Repeat it 1/2 day later because mom will lick it all off.
Out in the field, we always calve them in groups. The cow/heifer should go off on her own or maybe with one pal.
You need to be ready to get her in somewhere. Doesn't sound a though a livestock trailer would be any good, so I would beg borrow or steal a couple of gates (12'-14') and be ready with string to make up a pen in the corner of a field. Ideally, you will already make this up and also get her used to going into it for food (in an ideal world anyhow!).
I would have a halter ready for her head if you need to tie her up, as well as somewhere in that pen capable of tying the halter to.
They can calve any time, especially heifers, but cows will more usually calf in the early hours presumably to give their newborn calf as many daylight hours a possible, but don't rely on that.
Most of all, with first calving, stay calm and patient. I don;t bother removing other animals from the field but don't leave bulls in usually.
EXCEPT....if you see the back legs coming out first, then forget the calm and patient bit, just get your calving ropes (you need those), and get that calf out as quickly as you can before it drowns, because the umbilical (spelling?) will break but the head is still inside.
Good luck.
Edited By Broomcroft on 1289655413
Clive
-
Broomcroft
- Posts: 3005
- Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2006 4:42 am
- Location: Shropshire, England
- Contact:
PS. The 250ml collostrum we give if we are not sure whether they have suckled or not, is not much of a feed in itself, it's just a booster that should make the calf think "Oh! That was nice, where can I get some more", and then they often as not start to pester mom. Shouldn't be needed as they are not first timers.
Clive
Crikey Clive, thats an answer and a half!!
preperations for calving here are to have a bag ready with some useful bits in.
my bag has:-
1 bottle lube
some good strong baler twine, disenfected and sealed in a bag.
Teramycin spray
ear tags and pliers
calving ropes for jack
leave them to calf, if it all goes on to long call someone for some advice, have a plan b, some gates and plan to pen your cow, dont get get killed by your freshly calved cow..... simples.
it will all be fine, you just need some experience and you can never know it all, every year you will learn something new, just when you think you have seen it all something new will happen.
dom
preperations for calving here are to have a bag ready with some useful bits in.
my bag has:-
1 bottle lube
some good strong baler twine, disenfected and sealed in a bag.
Teramycin spray
ear tags and pliers
calving ropes for jack
leave them to calf, if it all goes on to long call someone for some advice, have a plan b, some gates and plan to pen your cow, dont get get killed by your freshly calved cow..... simples.
it will all be fine, you just need some experience and you can never know it all, every year you will learn something new, just when you think you have seen it all something new will happen.
dom
Ian 99 times out of 100 experienced Dexter mothers will calve without bother or excitement, so don't worry too much.
My additional caution to all that has gone before is to warn that last years calf may take the opportunity when the milk bar re-opens. They often do it even before the calving and leave you wondering why the potential mother is not bagging up. Best to separate last years calves for a while anyway.
Good luck!
Ian
My additional caution to all that has gone before is to warn that last years calf may take the opportunity when the milk bar re-opens. They often do it even before the calving and leave you wondering why the potential mother is not bagging up. Best to separate last years calves for a while anyway.
Good luck!
Ian
Joan and Ian Simpson
Pennielea Farm
Glenavy
Co Antrim
Pennielea Farm
Glenavy
Co Antrim
If the cows are 4 and 8 years old, I'm predicting that you'll wake up one morning, look out the window and hey presto, the calf will be wobbling around the udder getting a tummy full of milk. Or if it calved late the night before, it'll already have a full tummy and be curled up tight sleeping somewhere, where mum can keep an eye on it.
It took 3 years of Dexter ownership before I actually got to see a Dexter birth. Until then, it was simply a new calf in the paddock, when I looked out the window.
I would add that if I am watching a heifer wandering up and down the paddock with her tail in the air, I make a note of when her waters break and give her an hour to have the calf either born, or showing good progress towards being born. If nothing has happened within that hour, I'll get her into the stockyards to investigate. It can be something as simple as the feet turned up, blocking the exit or perhaps only one foot showing, needing the other to be brought forward, for the birth to progress.
If no progress has been made after an hour and you are unsure of what to do, call a vet
and get them to investigate. Its much easier for them to achieve a live birth, if you don't wait too long before calling them for assistance. It may be a straight forward birth, but the calf is big, so more effort is required.
I believe its better to assist a heifer early in the piece and leave her plenty of energy to mother the calf after the birth, than to leave her to cope with a prolonged labour and be too tired to bother looking after the calf once its born.
In saying all that, I still think that you most likely won't get to take any of your calving gear out of the box for your two experienced cows, but its always good to have a calving kit all prepared, just in case. One year, you may actually need it.
Edited By Inger on 1289715777
It took 3 years of Dexter ownership before I actually got to see a Dexter birth. Until then, it was simply a new calf in the paddock, when I looked out the window.
I would add that if I am watching a heifer wandering up and down the paddock with her tail in the air, I make a note of when her waters break and give her an hour to have the calf either born, or showing good progress towards being born. If nothing has happened within that hour, I'll get her into the stockyards to investigate. It can be something as simple as the feet turned up, blocking the exit or perhaps only one foot showing, needing the other to be brought forward, for the birth to progress.
If no progress has been made after an hour and you are unsure of what to do, call a vet
and get them to investigate. Its much easier for them to achieve a live birth, if you don't wait too long before calling them for assistance. It may be a straight forward birth, but the calf is big, so more effort is required.
I believe its better to assist a heifer early in the piece and leave her plenty of energy to mother the calf after the birth, than to leave her to cope with a prolonged labour and be too tired to bother looking after the calf once its born.
In saying all that, I still think that you most likely won't get to take any of your calving gear out of the box for your two experienced cows, but its always good to have a calving kit all prepared, just in case. One year, you may actually need it.
Edited By Inger on 1289715777
Inger
NZ
NZ
-
Broomcroft
- Posts: 3005
- Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2006 4:42 am
- Location: Shropshire, England
- Contact:
PS.
One of the most common causes of death of a calf at birth is simply it being born normally and the calf's head still being in the bag and it suffocating. This is also fairly unusual but not rare. If you see the birth, then the calf should almost immediately (within 5 seconds of being out) lift it's head and give it a good shake to break the bag, and then it'll take it's first breath. When I say the calf is "out", you may still have the back legs inside, but I call that out because the umbilical has probably broken.
So what to do - Have handful of clean straw in your hand, get over to the calf asap, break the bag over it's head by poking your finger in it and pulling it away, if you feel it's necessary, put a piece of straw up it's nostrils one at a time. You're not putting the straw up the nose to just physical clear the passage, even a small piece will tickle the nose internally and make the calf sneeze.
If it's coughing and spluttering a bit, as though it has a cold, that's normal, just leave it and it will clear in a minute or two.
Edited By Broomcroft on 1289723235
One of the most common causes of death of a calf at birth is simply it being born normally and the calf's head still being in the bag and it suffocating. This is also fairly unusual but not rare. If you see the birth, then the calf should almost immediately (within 5 seconds of being out) lift it's head and give it a good shake to break the bag, and then it'll take it's first breath. When I say the calf is "out", you may still have the back legs inside, but I call that out because the umbilical has probably broken.
So what to do - Have handful of clean straw in your hand, get over to the calf asap, break the bag over it's head by poking your finger in it and pulling it away, if you feel it's necessary, put a piece of straw up it's nostrils one at a time. You're not putting the straw up the nose to just physical clear the passage, even a small piece will tickle the nose internally and make the calf sneeze.
If it's coughing and spluttering a bit, as though it has a cold, that's normal, just leave it and it will clear in a minute or two.
Edited By Broomcroft on 1289723235
Clive
-
Louisa Gidney
- Posts: 852
- Joined: Mon Sep 05, 2005 11:00 am
- Contact:
I would have a bottle of magnesium and a bottle of calcium or one of those 2 in 1 bottles with appropriate syringes/needles for dispensing. Only needed once in 20 years but when it's needed it's a crisis!
Also a calf teat and bottle and a jug to milk into. It's so much easier to milk mum & bottle feed calf so you know for certain that the calf has had colostrum. I would also have been handling the cows' udders routinely for some time previous, so it's not total culture shock to have a human grovelling round there.
Some form of portable hands free lighting, if things need a helping hand after dark.
Also a calf teat and bottle and a jug to milk into. It's so much easier to milk mum & bottle feed calf so you know for certain that the calf has had colostrum. I would also have been handling the cows' udders routinely for some time previous, so it's not total culture shock to have a human grovelling round there.
Some form of portable hands free lighting, if things need a helping hand after dark.
Zanfara Dexters
Tow Law
Co. Durham
Tow Law
Co. Durham
Pleased to say that the waiting game is now over - tiny little black steer arrived last Thursday and is doing well despite a traumatic start to his life.
I checked Mum first thing Thu morning and although her udders appeared marginally larger than I remembered it didn't look as though anything was imminent and she appeared normal.
Went back early afternoon and she was standing in the corner where I was expected her to give birth (most shelter / protection) bellowing and 10-15 second intervals. Couldn't see any sign of a calf coming out so I assumed she was going through some contractions and the birth was probably imminent.
Walked off to see a contractor cutting my hedges 2 fields away. On my return, I went into another field to check on an area that I also wanted the contractor to cut, an area I don't go to very often. As I walked up the side of the field under some trees, I stumbled across a very small, bemused black calf - in a field where his mother doesn't have access.
Looks as though at some point after his birth, the calf had wandered off, through a very small stream, up a bank and under a 2 strand fence, through a tree line hedge and got lost. The adjacent field had another farmer's cows in it and he had wandered over towards them. Clearly mother was bellowing to call him back, not due to contractions.
I found him by pure chance an hour before dark on what turned out to be the coldest night of the year so far - about -4/5 in my area.
In hindsight I would have done things differently, however I took the advice of not handling the calf and instead tried to get mother over to calf. However on my own in a rush I wasn't going to get her without the remaining 3 cows, so for efficiency, I brought the whole herd over. Sadly even then, mother and calf couldn't find each other as he was hiding in the brambles in the hedge, so with darkness approaching rapidly, I carried calf to mother.
Thankfully she was pleased to see him and continued to bond, however my steer & heifer yearlings were very curious about the new arrival and kept prodding / licking him, preventing him from suckling in their curiosity.
Moved the remaining animals away and managed to give mother and calf peace, just as it was beginning to get dark.
Since I had no idea how old the steer was when he walked off, I had no idea how much Colostrum he had managed to get on board. Despite my attempts, once I had reunited them, there was no way mother was going to let me close enough to bottle feed the calf. As darkness fell for the very cold night, I left them in peace under some trees desperately hoping he was strong enough to last the night.
First light the next morning, calf was looking bright eyed and strong. Was able to get some iodine on his cord and able to give Mum & calf access to peace and quiet in the coral.
His first day, he lost his Mum, his first night out was the coldest night of the year so far and on his second day, the snow arrived. Since then it has been freezing cold every day and there is still snow around. Poor little thing has had a very hard start to this life but seems to be doing incredibly well. I have been fortunate enough to see him run across the field to Mum on several occasions already.
I was very lucky, I only found the calf by pure chance – I certainly wasn’t looking for it as I didn’t realise it had arrived. Spend Friday and most of the weekend building wind breaks and a make shift shelter to protect mother and calf from the rest of the snow and the blizzards that were forecast this week – thankfully they haven’t arrived.
If something like this happens again, I think I would hand feed Colostrum and spray his cord prior to reunited him with Mum. That way I could be sure he had some inside him and I would have had a much better nights sleep as a result.
Edited By IanLong on 1291186720
I checked Mum first thing Thu morning and although her udders appeared marginally larger than I remembered it didn't look as though anything was imminent and she appeared normal.
Went back early afternoon and she was standing in the corner where I was expected her to give birth (most shelter / protection) bellowing and 10-15 second intervals. Couldn't see any sign of a calf coming out so I assumed she was going through some contractions and the birth was probably imminent.
Walked off to see a contractor cutting my hedges 2 fields away. On my return, I went into another field to check on an area that I also wanted the contractor to cut, an area I don't go to very often. As I walked up the side of the field under some trees, I stumbled across a very small, bemused black calf - in a field where his mother doesn't have access.
Looks as though at some point after his birth, the calf had wandered off, through a very small stream, up a bank and under a 2 strand fence, through a tree line hedge and got lost. The adjacent field had another farmer's cows in it and he had wandered over towards them. Clearly mother was bellowing to call him back, not due to contractions.
I found him by pure chance an hour before dark on what turned out to be the coldest night of the year so far - about -4/5 in my area.
In hindsight I would have done things differently, however I took the advice of not handling the calf and instead tried to get mother over to calf. However on my own in a rush I wasn't going to get her without the remaining 3 cows, so for efficiency, I brought the whole herd over. Sadly even then, mother and calf couldn't find each other as he was hiding in the brambles in the hedge, so with darkness approaching rapidly, I carried calf to mother.
Thankfully she was pleased to see him and continued to bond, however my steer & heifer yearlings were very curious about the new arrival and kept prodding / licking him, preventing him from suckling in their curiosity.
Moved the remaining animals away and managed to give mother and calf peace, just as it was beginning to get dark.
Since I had no idea how old the steer was when he walked off, I had no idea how much Colostrum he had managed to get on board. Despite my attempts, once I had reunited them, there was no way mother was going to let me close enough to bottle feed the calf. As darkness fell for the very cold night, I left them in peace under some trees desperately hoping he was strong enough to last the night.
First light the next morning, calf was looking bright eyed and strong. Was able to get some iodine on his cord and able to give Mum & calf access to peace and quiet in the coral.
His first day, he lost his Mum, his first night out was the coldest night of the year so far and on his second day, the snow arrived. Since then it has been freezing cold every day and there is still snow around. Poor little thing has had a very hard start to this life but seems to be doing incredibly well. I have been fortunate enough to see him run across the field to Mum on several occasions already.
I was very lucky, I only found the calf by pure chance – I certainly wasn’t looking for it as I didn’t realise it had arrived. Spend Friday and most of the weekend building wind breaks and a make shift shelter to protect mother and calf from the rest of the snow and the blizzards that were forecast this week – thankfully they haven’t arrived.
If something like this happens again, I think I would hand feed Colostrum and spray his cord prior to reunited him with Mum. That way I could be sure he had some inside him and I would have had a much better nights sleep as a result.
Edited By IanLong on 1291186720
-
Broomcroft
- Posts: 3005
- Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2006 4:42 am
- Location: Shropshire, England
- Contact:
Well done Ian. If your calf was bright eyed and well, it had colostrum. If they don't get any, after a time you'll find them curled up and dreary, hard to tell whether they are just tired, then I'd give them colostrum and they usually wake up and go looking for more. I've a few calves get separated and not had a problem when I carried them over to mom. Once had twins, and the cow wouldn't accept the one, so I kept on carrying the heifer over to her (I think they usually reject the heifer with twins if they reject at all?), and she eventually accepted both.
Clive