The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Cattle => Topic started by: Ash Field Farm on March 03, 2009, 10:33:14 pm
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well just loked at the dates my first cow thats in calf is due in the next 4 weeks any thing i need to start doing i have sorted out a calving shed for her but thats only if shes go in there i am not even sure if she will go to full term as she is huge shes aberdean angus pedagiee
any one has experiance with calving and how long shoul i keep her in when she calfs so excited its all happening the last week
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Dont worry she will be fine. Despite all the James Herriott stuff 90% have them on their own. If she is in calf to an Angus bull she should be ok. I used Angus bulls on my heifers as they are easy calving. Look for her pin bones dropping(either side of her tail) and she will seperate herself from the rest of the herd and walk round with her tail in the air. She will also get up and down and be generally restless. Unless the weather is really foul let her calve outside as she can behave naturally there. If its frosty the calf will be fine its wet that gives them hypothermia. The natural presentation is a sort of dive (front feet first followed by head then shoulders) Look for the feet pointing downwards. If they ppoint up the calf is coming back legs first and will need to be pulled or it will drown. It takes quite a long time to start with so keep an eye on her but dont be afraid to leave her alone. Once the nose can be seen she will be heaving quite hard and not appearing to make much progress. Give her time but if you want to and she will let you near pull on the legs but only when she strains.
Its best to let her get on with it. She will probably pop it out just when you go in to make a cuppa.
One word of caution some cows do get calf proud and quite aggressive just around calving. Make sure you have an escape route and keep the dog away as this will make her more maternal (wolf after her baby).
Just enjoy the experience its so rewarding and the bit I miss most.
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good luck ashfield, our dexters about to pop any day now showing all the right signs, be our first calf too..............neil
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good luck to you both ;D
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any calf news yet ashfield farm?
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7 cows calved with us, only 4 left now all went well with all calves born and suckled themselves, and still of good size and quality. ;D ;D
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not yet she hasnt had it yet she isnt due intill the 12th but she is so large she could be earlyer i think
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not going to be calving any more as my cow who was in calf was killed by some one or persons on motor bikes they scared my cattle under a bridge and casued the cow to try and climb the embankmet on the bridge casueing her to fall to her death i have written it anll what had happend on the rivercotaage.net forum site iam completely dishartend and gutted about losing her the police have been fantastic in all of this and have been round a number of times checking for me its has been a sat weekend
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Oh thats awful Ash Field Farm. I've just been ranting about how awful people are, and this just serves to reinforce that opinion. Glad to hear the police have been good though. I hope they find out who did it and get them sorted out!
Beth
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That's sickening. So sorry. Hope they get what they deserve.
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very sorry to hear of your terrible incident with the cattle..................neil
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well with all the bad luck i have had iam having some reasonalbe for a change as i have got a replacement cow in calf from a neibour cos she was easy to move and she is only a week away from calving i have had since i lost the other cow in calf
well shes doing great i weaner he previosue calf from here a few weeks back and seperated her today into the calfing pen shes seems to have settled down realy good she is starting to show some signs shes bagging up and becoming swolen around the back end anything else to look out for and one knoe of anything else i should be doing as this will be the first born on the farm this year so excited x
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You don't mention what breed she is - however, if this is not her first calf, I should not worry too much, and let her get on with it. If she has done it before successfully, chances are she will do again. If she is an island breed (Jersey / Guernsey), watch out for milk fever if it is not her first or second calf, as she may be prone to it. That's about it, but after your run of bad luck, I think you deserve some Good Luck, so go for it!!
Catherine.
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Hi Ashfield farm,
I'm new to this site and only just read your thread, can I add my condolences for your terrible loss - its great to read that you have another 'in calf' cow close to calving, good luck - as has already been said, just enjoy the moment and let the cow do her stuff - I breed Dexters and in the main they have no problem calving, however our last cow to calf this year was showing signs of distress as she was getting ready to calf. She does not like to be handled and so it wasn't easy to get close to her to check what was wrong, but when I did manage to get to her whilst she was on the ground, I discovered she was presenting the calf 'upside down', I tried to turn it myself but after 20mins of sweating and swearing, I left her in the field and rushed home to phone the vet, when I returned some 10minutes later she was licking her new heifer calf as if nothing had happened. Don't you just love nature? Anyway, from a start of one bull and two cows five years ago we now have a herd of 11 Dexters - I wish you the same success and enjoyment
Regards Farmer
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hope all goes well this time ashfield,our dexters had 2 super bull calves, the one heifer, her first calf ,bagged up weeks before anything happened she hung onto it for what seemed forever, sure all will go well very rare to have problems with calving.
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well i had a big suprise this morniing i wne down to do the checks as u do and i had thought she had started in labour as i went round her pen to check her water and feed this little head poped up the other side scared me she had calved a week early its a beatuiful calf i didnt want to disturb her to much as its only a few hours old i watched it stand and take the first steps bambie lol i was concernd at first that it wasnt suckling then i came back from feeding the pigs and checked again and the little face looked up with a milk tash lol i havent checked the sex yet ill let is settle for a bit first i am hoping its a heier calf so i can use her in the breading herd so all round it was a shock a good shock though
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CONGRATULATIONS Ashfield, now your cooking with gas! I hope it will be the first of many
Regards, Farmer
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well done great news, first of many hopefully...............neil
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i can confirm it is a heifer calf a a little beauti at that
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ashfield farm
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