Calving Tip

[randiliana]

Here's a tip to consider.

We had a heifer calve the other night. Ended up having to pull the calf, and she really wasn't that interested in him. Happens often enough when you have to assist a heifer. Usually, we just leave them alone for a few hours (2-4) and when we come back she will have settled down and decided to love the calf. In this case, the heifer just laid down on the other side of the stall, and never looked at the calf. So, since it was 3 am, I just went into the house, made up a bottle of colostrum for the calf and fed the calf. Didn't really feel like messing with the cow at 3 am. Well, as soon as that calf drank that bottle down, he wanted to get up and started moving around. And that is when the little light bulb clicked on in the heifer's head, as soon as I got out of the way she was mothering him up. From what I could tell, the calf didn't really do much moving because the heifer wasn't licking( no stimulation) him, and the heifer didn't mother him because he didn't show a lot of life (more or less just laid still), sort of a catch 22 situation.

So my tip, in this situation, is
1. get the calf breathing (if necessary) and stimulate the calf a bit so he doesn't just lay there like a lump
2. give the pair a little time ALONE (at least 2 hours), don't check in on them every few minutes or you just stress the heifer even more. The more you interfere in this situation, the longer it is going to take for her to accept the calf.
3. before you bottle the calf, get him moving, if you can get him to stand up even better.

[tinknal]

Good points. A rough towel or feed sack works well to stimulate the calf. One other tip. If you are not sure if the calf has nursed, stick your fingers in it's mouth. If the mouth is warm, the calf has nursed.

[randiliana]

Yep, about the quickest and easiest way to tell the health of a newborn calf, stick your finger in its mouth. If it is warm (almost hot) the calf is fine. If it is cool or cold you know you need to do something.

[Calfkeeper]

Originally Posted by tinknal

Good points. A rough towel or feed sack works well to stimulate the calf. One other tip. If you are not sure if the calf has nursed, stick your fingers in it's mouth. If the mouth is warm, the calf has nursed.

Great tip. I have been here on the dairy for 6 years and have never heard that, but have always wondered why the "problem" calves are cold-nosed when I do the emergency colostrum feedings.

We have had first-calf heifers just walk away from squirming, bawling calves. Wouldn't have anything to do with the calf, no matter what. But then their NEXT calf....super protective of it.

[randiliana]

A newborn calf doesn't have a huge supply of energy. They need to get that first feed of colostrum into so they can regulate their body temperature, among other things of course ;~> .

Just imagine getting out of a nice warm tub, and walking outside wrapped in a wet towel or robe.....That is pretty much what happens when a new calf is born. So you can see why they need a good mama and a good feed of colostrum as soon as possible.

[tinknal]

Another tip. I have worked on a few large cow-calf operations so I have seen a lot of calves born, pulled quite a few, and seen plenty that were in serious trouble when born. Just because a calf isn't breathing doesn't mean it is dead. One of the best things I have ever seen to get the lungs pumping is a big pinch of snoose right up the nose. The effects are quite spectacular. Works well for calves that are breathing but struggling for breath also. They sneeze and cough and bring up all that fluid out of their lungs.

[Cheribelle]

Huh. I have never seen that snoose trick, but I have seen the vet tickle the nose with a foxtail weed, trying to get it to sneeze, and therefore, breathe. My DH's chew makes my nose tickle several feet away! That would be a potent incentive to breathe!

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by Cheribelle

Huh. I have never seen that snoose trick, but I have seen the vet tickle the nose with a foxtail weed, trying to get it to sneeze, and therefore, breathe. My DH's chew makes my nose tickle several feet away! That would be a potent incentive to breathe!

I have actually done it to myself a time or two when my sinuses were stuffed up. Truly miserable experience, but it does clean out the old snot box.

[randiliana]

ROFL tinknal.....

[Karen in Alabam]

Snoose? Chewing tobacco I am guessing?

[ErinP]

Yeah. It's a classic trick.

That and some old cowboys swear by a little snort of Jim Beam, too. For the calf that is.

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by ErinP

Yeah. It's a classic trick.

That and some old cowboys swear by a little snort of Jim Beam, too. For the calf that is.

Doesn't hurt the cowboy a bit either.............

[tinknal]

Another trick is to hang the calf upside down for a minute. Just put the calf over the rail of a fence with the head hanging down. This helps drain the fluid from the lungs. Many ruminants give birth standing up and this produces the same effect.

[randiliana]

Yeah, but that doesn't drain much from the lungs, it does drain the stomach though.

[MO_cows]

Sometimes nothing works. We had an overdue, big-shouldered bull calf get stuck last year for a long time, had to get the vet out to pull him. Heart was beating when he came out, but we just couldn't get him to breathe. Picked him up by the hind legs and hung him and also swung him to expel the fluid, stuck straw up his nose and tickled, vet even put a tube down him and gave him some breaths but he just expired. The cow was swelled up like a baboon afterwards and very sore, she mostly laid around and felt sorry for herself for a few days. Probably lucky we didn't lose them both.

[bruce2288]

Sometimes a cow with no interest in her calf will get protective if you get a dog in the area.

[randiliana]

Just make sure you aren't between the dog and the cow...