First Calf Heifer. First Calf Owner

[Gorignak]

2 months ago


Height


Looks good...

Sheila is a good looker. 2.5 years old. I can't guess weights yet....never weighed one to reference to. She is bulging now. We have no breeding date.....but it will be in a couple/few weeks.
Her mom is a SMOOTH calver.....goes into the woods....has a calf......cleans up.....puts on lipstick....hides the calf......brings it out in 2 days....done this 5 X without a hitch.

Her first calf....our first calf...I am going to give her a 9/10 on the health scale. We seem to have gotten her at about 6 months of gestation....time to grow. We have been supplementing her with about 6-8 lbs a day of a pelleted feed that does not contain corn....mostly CSM, alfalfa, DDG....so it does not disturb rumen chemistry....she loves her hay. She has been pampered and is slick & shiny.

WHAT WOULD...(fill in the blank with your name)...DO.
Pharma to have on hand for her
Pharma and supplements for the calf
Worry/Don't Worry tips

This is going to happen in the pasture. NO way around that.


But, the pasture has good cover, still lots of brush piles, and a good cedar grove at the bottom. the bull, her dam and calf will be in the pasture with her.

We have a basic idea of the things to watch for....and have birthed a blue million other animals. the pasture is 100 yards from the house....so we can monitor.

Tips, and Pharma suggestions would be appreciated.

Shorty to shorty....so, set up for a disaster.

[Maple View Farm]

We haven't had to use anything, knock on wood. We have had to pull the calf on 2 seperate occasions. But with you having 2 shorties you might be clear of that. Hubby says a bulb syringe would have been handy on the first calf we pulled but things turned out ok anyways. Watch for the discharge from momma and things will happen within a day once you see that so don't go away from home in case she needs help. Have your phone with you and the vets number in it just in case. Maybe even a good neighbor farmers number to call quick.

Good luck and post pics

Hubby loves your bull. Says he's a "sawed off". Ha Ha

[lakeportfarms]

Mike,

This is a carrier to carrier breeding? If so you've likely passed the 25% bulldog chance, so you'll have 50 percent chance of short and 25 percent chance long.

Have some shoulder length gloves and lube, bucket with rags and soap, flashlight and/or head light, tube feeder and if you have some frozen colostrum that is great, if not get some colostrum replacement.

I wouldn't really be too concerned. Watch for her going off by herself to a far corner away from the others. When you see her actively in labor, it will be between 20 minutes to an hour and a half. You should see hooves first facing down, one slightly ahead of the other, then the nose. You want the calf looking like it's ready to dive out. The head usually takes a bit, the shoulders a bit more, and then it will just slide out from there.

One the calf is out, mom should be up and licking it furiously. If she's a bit confused and the calf is not responding right away, you can help by clearing the face and nose and take a piece of straw and poke the calf's nostrils. The calf will start trying to stand up within a few minutes, and start looking around for a drink within a half hour.

I'm sure many others will chip in with some of their experiences.

[lakeportfarms]

By the way, I'd love to have that bulldozer for a week or two for some projects around here

[Olga]

First reliable sign of impending labor is when the cow starts to act different than normal, especially if she's not staying with her usual buddies. She'll be off under a shade tree, near by, looking in a different direction than the rest, with a far away look in her eyes. The second sign is when you call the herd up and she doesn't come: she's either having it now or has already had it. Third sign is when the cow does come up but seams to have extra legs: oh yeah, that's the calf at her side!
There are many things good to have on hand. One you can't do without is colostrum. If any of your cows calve and you have to milk them out a bit anyway, be sure to save some for later. Even a cup full is valuable. Otherwise have some powdered stuff on hand.
You have about a 95% chance of everything going fine. The worst thing that could happen is a breech. Ask around if anyone is known for being able to flip a calf without tearing the uterus. As a general rule of thumb, active labor (after the hooves start to come out) shouldn't take longer than an hour or so. Just my opinion.

[Gorignak]

THANKS .... so far .... Okay on the Colostrum substitute. I've seen that in the feed store...

Hans..... I am an ACE dozer operator.....I have only worked one job in 30 years, and after 15 minutes on a D-6H the foreman offered me top scale, then took me in the office and secretly offered me 20% more. In 1978 we moved onto our farm and lived in a tent for a year while I built roads, cleared pads, logged, and sawed out a house. We sold that dozer 28 years ago....this one is our "retirement" gift to each other to finish the farm off for the kids.

So....it is the dozer, AND the operator. I hate hiring out dozer work. I just want to push the operator off and go at it myself. At $100.+ / hour, they can burn through money faster than a Lottery Winner in Las Vegas.

I would highly recommend to ANY farmer a Dresser/International TD-8E or G or H.....They are too small to push big timber, plus the 6 way blade is not a great tree pusher. I push anything up to 12" in diameter....dig around anything bigger....and can really move some dirt when building roads or ponds. But, you always have to be ready for the same expense as 6 cows under a lightning struck tree if you have a major breakdown.
The TD8 E-G-H are FANTASTIC road, pond, and fenceline dozers. They cost half what a comparable Caterpillar costs. There are International forums full of old mechanics who have nothing better to do than walk you through repairs....They are VERY popular in Canada, especially British Columbia for logging. That one is 80 HP/14,000 lbs and burns 2 gal of diesel an hour under full load.

[cddexter]

mike, I always plan for the worst. That way I'm ready for anything, and whatever else happens is a breeze.

1. dwarf and non-dwarf: should be a cinch if the presentation is right, as Hans describes. Probably a 99% chance of this.

All the advice here then applies. Cow's doing her job, everything is moving along smoothly, she'll take care of everything.

For the other 1%, if you only see one leg and feel around and can't find the second, you will need to take action. If the nose does not appear, and you can't reach in and feel it handy, you will need to take action. Action in this case means reaching in, feeling your way around, finding the other leg, working down to the knee and bringing it and then the foot forward, or feeling around, finding the head, hooking a nostril and pulling it around to face front. If you are comfortable doing this, go for it. If not, find an experienced neighbor, or a vet if you have to. Time is critical here, as the waters will have broken and the calf needs to breathe. Once it's out, and if it's only been a little delay and it's not breathing, you can try swinging it around in a circle, holding onto the hind legs and then let it thump to the ground, or hanging it over a gate, hind legs on one side, rib cage and the rest over the other side.

2, Bulldog calves are usually aborted at three different stages in development: around 6 to 12 weeks, around 6 to 8 months, and at full term. The first and second are the most common. The last happens but not often.

Sometimes at the last two stages, the calf's head is too large to pass. This may require a C-section. Sometimes the calf can be dismembered in situ (it's already dead so don't worry about hurting it) and removed. I tell you this only as a precaution. If you check out the bulldog photo under Chondro at the ADCA site, you will see what I mean about head size. They usually have a large domed encephalytic cranium, about 2 to 3 times normal size.

I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. Some people can go calving after calving and never have a bulldog. Others get several in a row. Each time it's a 25% chance, and odds are just that: odds. For peace of mind, probably a good idea to keep just one type of cow and a dwarf bull, or vica versa, or use AI on the dwarfs when keeping a dwarf bull.

Your heifer is deepening down nicely. If folk lore is to be believed, she should have lots of milk. Sounds like you are doing everything right, you deserve the best of luck. cheers, c.

[Gorignak]

THANKS ALL....Thanks Carol for the intro to "a long night in the barn". We have a developing opportunity to go to extreme lengths and have a dry stall available to birth in. This is my preferred option with the remote chance of a bulldog being in the mix. Plus...we need to double down on gentling her more. She has spent 2.5 years in a pasture, with only fenceline contact. She has warmed up considerably the past 2 months. She will have to adapt fast, because we will be milking her promptly. I am assuming that food becomes an even greater "equalizer & socializer" when she is nursing.
I'm/we are not squeamish. The lack of experience would make extreme measures clumsy......but we can cope. I am going to get a Google primer together on turning and shifting and pulling and such. It is hard to get a rapid response on a forum like this.....But.....I have Olga's #....hear that Olga ? Let's hope she likes to calve in the early AM like her mother. Let's hope it is before the weather turns cold. Nice here now, 50's - 60's at night. I want to breed her back ASAP to try and move her next calf toward summer rather than into winter....that will entail some decisions, as she and her sire/consort are both chondro pos. I SHOULD AI her with a long/neg bull.

I would appreciate hearing any other info that folks have ....ESPECIALLY concerning first calf heifers. That seems to be where the difficulties would lurk.

From the rate of growth....size at 10 weeks....and looking at the leg bone lengths.....we think her younger brother, born July 16 is long legged. That would open up an enticing possibility for us. We have 3 of the calves from Oz and Dorothy, and all seem to be improvements over the parents....subtle, but they are really well proportioned, straight frame and good legs. We are watching him and not banding him immediately. I'm going to pull some tail hairs and check him out.

To be perfectly honest....I wish things were easier with the Dexter genetics. Would I do anything different ...... not a chance !! We are hooked.

[lakeportfarms]

Mike, I think you have most bases covered with the calving, we'll all look forward to your report when it happens.

I had an old International TD6 for a while to play with at a factory I have. I used it to expand the area for a new loading dock and grade door, with about 100 30 yrd. dump trucks of fill dirt.
It was an old thing with the tracks all worn out, I learned how to put them back on numerous times. Operating that thing was sort of like patting your head/rubbing your belly (or is it the other way around?) Nothing like the joysticks of the newer ones!

We have a pond on the property that the prior owner put in, and he didn't have a very good aesthetic eye, so one of these years I want to reshape it and move it 100 feet over so it's actually at the low point of the property where a seasonal creek will fill it instead of running past it. When the time comes for me to spring for one I'll be sure to get some advice.

[wvdexters]

I love the photos. Your girl reminds me of my Kate. She is 2 1/2, black, horned and about 35". Dad calls her "wide load" or "walkin wide". She is always curious and very funny. We are expecting our calves late Apr/ early May. Can't wait!!

I am jealous about that dozer. We would love to have one. It's on our wish list. Right now we do all our heavy work with an old Ford 8n. She is a trooper, a real hard worker but.... Someday maybe.

Yes we cleared that hill with a chain saw, some ropes and pullies, and the tractor. It was a lot of work but we got it done. Dad cut the trees and limbed them. We drug the limbs into piles and burned. We cut the trunks into 20' lengths and drug them down with the tractor. The 8N even stacked them. It did grown a bit though. Those were big, heavy trees.

[cddexter]

mike, to be fair, have to tell you, and maybe make you feel better:
in 30 years and hundreds of calves here's my record:

three calves born dead from lepto, calved normally (spread by local infected deer, no way to detect it and nothing you can do about it)

one calf with bad presentation, vet pulled it, it lived

one calf from first calf heifer with narrow pelvis, got to it too late, vet pulled it but it was already dead

Be aware, be ready, but don't sweat it. cheers, c.