calving

[victorfirst]

Has anyone any advice , for a newbie member calving a cow. The do's and don'ts

[JohnnyP]

My vet sister gave me "Calving the cow and care of the calf" by Eddie Straiton. I read it dutifully and rather apprehensively. Went to check the expectant cow at 9am on her due date (AI, so well known), heard an odd-sounding moo on approaching the field, and there was the calf! If they're all like that, I'll be grateful.

[SteveM]

they dont like being watched, keep an eye out for problems, but from a discrete distance if possible, a watched kettle never boils as they say. would think 95% get on with it unaded.

phone numbers at hand for someone who knows the ropes is a good idea.

[Tim Watson]

We are relatively new to this having had only 6 calves so far spread over this year and last year so there are a lot of people on here who are far, far more experienced than us. However, we are closer to being newbies at calving and the worries and concerns before the first one are still fresh in our mind.

Most importantly, ours, bar one, have calved unassisted, no problems at all and the one we have had to help wasn't a big deal at all. However, if you are not sure about ANYTHING then don't be afraid or ashamed to call someone, and don't wait to make the call. Far better to make the call, or multiple calls, and have a live calf than to dither and have a bigger issue. Set up who you are going to call, have a word with them in advance and make sure their number is in your mobile.

This is what we did.
1) Calve them inside. We decided to do this as we wanted to be able to get to them easily if we had to and didn't want to be doing things for the first time in the pitch black and pouring rain. It was also because we didn't (and perhaps still don't) have our eye in when it comes to when they are likely to calve. Bringing them in meant we could observe the changes to them as they came closer to time. We brought them in 1 week before their due date. It worked really, really well and we will continue to do this. We use a stable box and, at the vet's suggestion, fitted a swinging gate inside the box. The gate is hinged about 24-30" out from a corner and there is a halter ring bolted to the wall half way between the corner of the box and the gate hinge. If you need to strip colostrum or get the calf on to suck, it is a huge help to tie the cow up, close the gate against her (not too tight) so she is held between the wall and the gate. You are safe to strip the colostrum without her stepping sideways towards you.

2) Calving Kit
Small bucket
Ball Whisk
Clean waterproof trousers
Clean waterproof short sleeved parlour top
Soft Calving ropes
1 or 2 packets of Calf Colostrum
Small feed bottle with teats(you don't need a huge calf bottle)
Calciject
Magniject
Syringes & Needles
Long sleeved waterproof gloves
Anti bac gel for internal inspections

We are very quiet around them as they came to term, made sure we didn't bang around too much. Having them in a box means they get used to us being in the box with them to feed them and do the straw. We make sure we go in at least once a day, usually twice, so they are used to being in the box together and they know we doing good things such as feed and bedding.

The book we used is 'The Essential Guide To Calving' by Heather Smith Thomas which gave us a good ideas what to expect.

We also put up a white board in the stable and noted times that things happened. This may be over the top, but it did prove useful on the one calving where we had to intervene as I was able to call the vet and talk through what had happened and when. As it happened he told us to wait a little longer to see if the calf was born before we had to give some help.

Do a lambing course at the vets or somewhere (they should be doing them about now). Very, very useful to get used to doing things blind and also getting used to working out if everything was lined up correctly to come out. Our vet used dead lambs in water tanks with plastic bags and tight rubber tubes to represent all the parts. They then put the dead lambs in for a normal birth to start with and then more complex positions/twins etc as the day progressed.

If you have to help the calf out, first check that everything is as it should be front feet and nose pointing out. To do this, get someone to hold the tail over to one side, quite tightly as it will stop them kicking. With a long sleeve glove on and plenty of lube , make a point with your fingers and very, very gently insert them. Start with one leg, go up that, across the chest and then down the other leg. On the way across the chest check that the nose is pointing aft (you can feel the two lines of the jawbone) and that the head isn't turned back. The one we had to help out was a big calf and despite her efforts he wasn't coming any further - we continued to see the same amount of front legs and his nose with each contraction. I checked all was OK and then put on the calving ropes. It is very important that these go on above the fetlock joint. If they aren't you risk a lot of damage to their feet - potentially permanent. Then, take up the strain and with each contraction let the calf come towards you and then hold it, ie don't let it slip back. You want to be pulling slightly downwards and once its shoulders are out just ease it on out in an arc towards the ground. I then cleared the calf's nostrils with some straw, made sure it was breathing and moved out the way for her to lick it clean. Wait until she has finished licking it clean before spraying the navel otherwise she just licks that off as well.

The part we find hardest is getting them to suck. They need to get the colostrum into them in the first 12 hours (I think) as the gut wall is very porous at this stage and all the antibodies and goodness they get from the colostrum goes through the gut wall easier (if I am adrift on this someone will correct me). We find the calves rarely find the teat as they seem to expect it to be higher up. Usually we wait for 6 hours to see if they have fed and then if not milk off the colostrum and feed them from a bottle. Some people stomach tube them but if you are not used to this there is a knack to it and it doesn't get the sucking reflex going with the calf so we bottle feed the first lot. At this point you have a calf with a full tummy and the colostrum is starting its work. We then go back and maybe milk off again of the calf isn't on but after that we will help the calf onto the teat and get him used to finding that - its better for them and easier on your back! Knowing whether they have fed or not is just about judging how full they tummy is and looking at her teats to see if one is now smaller than it was.

As the colostrum starts to work its way thought the system you will get bright yellow poo. I would say droppings but it is the stickiest sticky stuff so it doesnt drop much. We do clean this off it it gets too stuck on. This, just like human babies, is the meconium and is normal.

Be very wary of the cow once the calf is born until you see how she is with you. We've never had a problem but I have heard that sometimes their attitude can change, this is why we go in and out of the box daily so they are used to this. However, I never go in without there being a good way out as with less than 12' to cross I would need to move very quickly. You are going to have to get to the calf to spray the navel either with iodine or with an Oxytet spray. We started with iodine in a teat cup but have switched to the spray as it is so much easier to reach under the calf to spray.

I'm sure there more and if I am adrift on anything then hopefully someone will put me straight at the same time.

Good luck

[Colin]

Out of 58 calves, the only calving problems we've had since we started was with a couple of shorts. Nearly the whole herd are non-shorts and so far (touch wood) they have all calved without the need for intervention. So the chances are you will not need to do anything. With respect suckling, I found there's a temptation to intervene too soon. If you stand and watch they never seem to suckle and you can get yourself into a flap. Let them get on with it, but just keep a discrete eye on them. The calf will likely have many false attempts before it gets the hang of it. I very rarely need to help them on the teat and have used a bottle or stomach tube around 4 times, usually with the shorts as the udder is low (you'd need a vet to show you how to stomach tube properly, you don't want milk in the lungs). If the cow is experienced, she'll know what to do.

Regards,

Colin

[Broomcroft]

If new, first of all try and have someone to hand who knows what to do at quick notice. Normally this might be a vet, or a local farmers or breeder.

Is it heifers or cows? Heifers can take a long time calving and faffing about, but if a cow, if she doesn't calve within a 2 of hours of starting to show signs, then there's probably something wrong, i.e. an abnormal position.

Preferably you will have facilities to restrain the cow so someone, vet etc, can go inside and have a feel. If she's reasonably approachable, that might be a head collar tied to a beam/post, and/or maybe in a pen.

We don't pen ours up for calving because that would stress them a lot, we leave ours in groups. But others do other ways and it depends on what your cows are used to.

As has been said, try and keep a watch at a distance, or more importantly do what you normally do. If you are always going in to see them, they will be used to you so keep doing it. As we're coming up to calving, I go in the shed all the time and walk around so they get to ignore me/used to me.

Any cow, given the circumstances, can become aggressive/protective after (and before) birth, so take care.

There are plenty of really good books out there for help.

Good luck.

[Broomcroft]

PS.

Two particular things to watch out for...

Calf is born with the bag over the head and suffocates. When cow has calved, or the calf is not quite completely out, get your fingers and break/pull the bag from around it's nose and mouth so it can breathe. Unless it is obviously breathing, when it's fully out, we tickle the inside of it's nose with a bit of straw to make it sneeze.

Backwards calf. Not common but not that rare either. You'll see the legs coming out the wrong way up and you obviously won't see a nose. When that happens, it is the one time you need to move very quickly. A calf coming backwards will normally break it's umbilical with it's head still inside, so it cannot breath. So get ropes on it straight away and get it out pronto, pulling out and down a bit. Once on the floor, clear nose/mouth and get it breathing.

PS. it's quite easy (for me at least!) to confuse a calf coming backwards and a calf coming forward but upside down, especially if you're tired. So you can put your gloved hand inside and follow the legs to see what it is, i.e. can you feel it's head or a tail? If forwards and upside down, probably best to phone the vet. As I said, if it is backwards, no time for any phone calls or anything, just get it out.

And defo get your bucket of goodies ready as per Tim's very thorough list, to which I'd just add a clean towel for your own use, but can also be useful when trying to grip something that is so slippy, leg, whatever.

[victorfirst]

Many thanks for all the advice will keep you posted as how we get on. Thanks