has this cow calved?
 

Yesterday I noticed Bessie was bagging up, but was preoccupied with company and did not bring her up close like I should have. Actually I thought I had a few more days.

This morning I saw that she was very bagged, and had what looked to me like poopy afterbirth hanging. DH and I have spent a lot of time looking through the fields for a calf to no avail.

Other than the hanging string she seems to me like maybe she still hasn't calved. But the string doesn't appear gooey to me, it looks more like cord. It has been all day and still hanging.

What do y'all think? Her belly also appears to be hanging very low.

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https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/...a7&oe=5533F21E

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I am going to guess that her membranes have ruptured, may not have calved yet, but this is probably not good....if you don't see any progress soon, I would get a vet to examine her....I am not thinking this is what is supposed to happen....

I think you need a vet. Somebody needs to glove up and examine her and see if there is a calf in her, and if it's dead it needs to come out ASAP, it doesn't take long to become toxic. What she is "extruding" doesn't look like normal pre-delivery discharge to me.

Can it be normal afterbirth or does she look like she has not calved?

Just based on the overall look of her rump, I would guess afterbirth. I can't tell if she looks like she dropped it or not. Can you tell if the teats show signs of sucking? Look at the hair at the base of the teat. It may just be one teat. Short of any more evidence, I would call the vet. What is her behavior like? Does she act like she is keeping an eye out for one particular corner of the pasture?

Based upon her back end it looks like she's getting ready to me. Also looking at her udder and side gut I'd guess her to not have calved. She doesn't look too hollow in her hip if you ask me. You might put her in the chute and have a look at her teats as mentioned above to check for evidence of nursing. Mama cows have a good ability to hide a calf in plain sight sometimes.

Looks like she has calved to me, although I'd also say she doesn't look hollowed out. Can you tie her and do an internal exam? She needs to be checked, either by you or a vet. I'd keep looking in the field, and check outside of fences because calves are very good at slipping under fences!!

I say she has calved. a cow with her body condition should be a lot wider considering the fat deposits on her rear. Because of her bcs being higher she will not show as hollow. her teats also look sucked from the pic.

good looking cow and in excellent condition, She probably has it hid somewhere.

Thank you all for the comments. To update, we loaded her to the vet this morning, who had his arm in her up to his armpit, and declared that she had calved, with no evident trauma. The remaining afterbirth dropped in the trailer.

Vet administered penicillin , oxytocin to help her clean out, banamine, and a uterine bolus. Charged about $105 for everything including the drugs and exam. And he hosed off her rear.:thumb:

We have still seen no signs of a calf, dead or alive, and the cow did not go to one when we unloaded her, though she did head to the back corner of the pasture where there is some underbrush. The other cattle all followed her, and she went to grazing, not to a calf.

I told DH, though, that I won't give up completely until a couple of weeks have passed without me seeing a calf, since that has happened in the past with a different cow. I looked and looked, thought the coyotes had dragged it off, and one day it showed up with the cattle at the hayring.

The bull threatened me for the first time this morning which really scared me. So I may or may not go out there looking again.

Be sure to practice your "lost calf" sounds while you look.
That caterwauling sound they make when you wean them.
Oftentimes if you can get any of the big cows to moo,
the calf will either come out or answer back.
Plus it is a fun game. :teehee:

Be careful of that bull though.
Carry a stick and always leave yourself an escape route.

Fingers crossed that you find the calf.

Sorry it cost you so much to find out, but I think you did the right thing. If you weren't able to palpate her, somebody needed to. Surprised so many meds were administered.

Hoping you have a live calf hid out somewhere.

If your bull isn't trustworthy, drive the pasture, don't walk. Very slowly, because it is easy to miss a small calf bedded down. And think about shipping that bull.

Good work. Nice cow.

We want to know where that calf is and what it is. I like gone-a-milkin's plan for fun. I will try it next time I need to.

I play cow poker to try to find calves. I walk into the pasture and watch what the cow does. I turn my back and walk some more and turn to face the cow. Some give a good "tell" and some are just plain good poker players and they don't show me anything. They just make me mad. :) Calves often sit tight even when you are right on them.

Your bull showed his hand. I never think they are bluffing until they make me think they don't care.

We've had this bull for about a year with no problems, but it only took the one threat to make me not trust him. He saw me looking at Bessie, came over and mooed at me. I walked to the other side, away from him, but he lowered his head and hoofed the ground, which sent me scrambling through briers and barbed wire.

We already were planning to ship him. Now I'm more anxious about it. I've put my own offspring on notice not to go inside the hotwire areas of the property until we do.

Hope you find the calf! I'm guessing that Bessie is a first-time mother.

Any updates on calf?

We've been looking and watching and no calf has yet appeared. We are losing hope that one will.

I brought this cow home as a calf three and a half years ago and bottled her. She is a sweet, favorite animal, but this was her first calving, and will be her last chance with us, I'm afraid, if a calf does not appear.

First calf heifer, I would give her another shot at it. I figure it was just bad luck. She will likely do better next go round.

Did she ever make an udder? Is she bagging up solid and tight if you pen her? Have you tried this for 12 hours or so and watching which way she goes?

If you have coyotes in your area, one might have gotten the calf!

Did she fail to conceive on time, is that why she is so old at first calving? She might be over conditioned, too fat is just as bad for fertility as too skinny.

You should have still found some remains if coyotes got the calf. About the only predator that can carry it clear off is a cougar.

I wonder if she had a late term abortion. That would answer as to why she had a retained umbilical/placenta.
Having brood cows as fat as her can bring on those kinds of things. It may be in your best interest to thin her down before breeding her back.
Folks often get so worried about what thier brood cows body scores, that they are overfeeding them. In the long run they cause some indirect problems.
Without being judgemental I'll throw out some food for thought.
She's carrying alot of fat in the crest of her neck and the hams on her hips. Those kinds of things will contribute to low conception rate, infertility, and abortions.
Take her her off of any kind of grain and slender her up before breeding her back. You'll likely have better luck.

She has consistently been a big, very well conditioned animal on just grass. Nothing to cut back on feed. This is the first calving, at three and a half years. She did make a nice udder. If it hadn't been Christmas week or I hadn't had a house full of company when I noticed her bagging up, I might have had the presence of mind to bring her into a smaller area to watch for calving.

You know, maybe I could carry her another year and she might still have a nice calf next year. But she's going on four years old with nothing to show. So I don't know if she will get another chance. :(

Also, the vet felt that the calf was term or close to term, and that she had calved without trauma.

There are coyotes in the area and it is possible they dragged off a calf. But we have spent a lot of time looking and found no signs of a calf dead or alive.

A cougar is actually a possibility in this area. I hadn't thought of that.

Yea I did that with the last cow so I don't know why I didn't this time. I did think I had more time.

Our cow sense is always behind us.

Hey! Give the heifer another chance and get rid of the bull instead! If she calved normally according to the vet it sounds like she's OK to try again. It's too bad she's older, but she's proven now.

Wish the calf would show up for you, though. :(

We are definitely planning to get rid of the bull. I no longer trust him since he threatened me, and he threw calves that were too big for my smaller cows.

DH's concern with keeping this cow on is that it took her so long to get bred in the first place. Since she stays this fat on just pasture and is not on any feed, there is nothing to cut her back on to get the fat off so that she might conceive more easily.