calving question

mulemom · #1 08/23/14, 03:13 PM

A couple questions for those who've done this a lot more than me. (Almost everybody!) Is it normal for a cow to eat the afterbirth? We had a couple cows calve two years ago and didn't notice either one doing that. Last night the older cow calved and between licks on the calf she was eating what afterbirth was there. After she choked on it I took it out. Later when she cleaned she was sucking on that part too until we took it out. Her 2yr old heifer calved about an hour later and she was doing the same thing but we took it out afraid she'd choke on it too. Second question-the heifer came out right after her mother calved and basically took over the calf then immediately went into labor herself but wouldn't leave her mother's calf. The heifer got aggressive and we had to use the tractor front loader to get the calf and her mother in the barn. I've had two horses foal close together and the one in labor got confused and thought the other mare's foal was hers but didn't know it could happen with cows. The heifer calved after about half an hour and other than being overly protective is great with her calf.

ksfarmer · #2 08/23/14, 03:51 PM

Yep, your cows are not unusual at all. Many times will eat the afterbirth. It's rich in nutrients the cow can use. And, claiming a newborn calf when close to calving herself is not unusual. Keep them separated a day or two and shouldn't have any problems.

mulemom · #3 08/23/14, 04:16 PM

Thanks KSfarmer. We had a short interval where we could have shut the heifer in the barn before the uproar but missed it. The cow's calf must have been tuckered out from the attention-it wouldn't even attempt to nurse even after we shut them in a stall. The cow's not tame but with grain in front of her she let me get a little milk into a 10cc syringe which I gave to the calf. Finally about midnight I got smart enough to use a cup to milk into then filled the syringe and gave it to the calf (more milk per grain). By 4am i was getting a good suck reflex but she still couldn't seem to find the bag. Was really worried calf wouldn't get enough colostrum but this morning we managed to use the syringe with milk to guide her and finally got her to latch on. The heifer's calf was up and nursing in ten minutes-she was the one I was worried about. Next time for sure the cows will be in a stall or penned before they calve-don't ever want to go through this again. Again-thanks for the response.

Vickie44 · #4 08/28/14, 10:57 AM

I've had cows that thought every baby was theirs!

idigbeets · #5 08/29/14, 05:33 AM

Almost every one of our 30 or so cows eat their afterbirth, it's nutritious, and is instinctual so predators don't get wind of it.

mulemom · #6 08/31/14, 12:59 PM

Thanks for the info everyone. Guess I should have left them out for them but after the first cow choked on it I was afraid to. Update on the 'stolen' heifer. She nursed a little over the weekend but it didn't seem that mom's bag was going down as much as it should have. Monday night we caught her drinking water out of the water bucket which explained why no dehydration and also no energy. Tuesday and Wed am she seemed to be eating ok and playing little while they were outside but no where near as much as the other calf. Wed night 104 temp. Vet came out thurs am-slight pneumonia and weepy umbilica. Other calf still has dried out cord attached-this one doesn't. Theory is our thief heifer might have stepped on it when she was rooting it around and pulled it off. Antibiotic shots twice a day through monday. Calf is getting serious about eating and playing. Shots and getting the little bugger in the barn after outside time are becoming a challenge-good problem. Hot and humid the last couple of days which seems to make her breathing more difficult. We'll see how she's doing after round of antibiotics then decide if we'll have to have vet back out. Thanks to everyone here for sharing your knowledge-it's a big help to us newbies.

msscamp · #7 09/10/14, 12:34 AM

A word of warning on cows who steal other cows calves - keep a close eye on them! We had a cow who would steal the calf of any cow who calved after she went into labor and leave her calf to die. I've also had it happen with a couple of my goats.

idigbeets · #8 09/10/14, 05:48 AM

Those types of cows go to freezer camp....

mulemom · #9 09/10/14, 11:34 PM

Thanks for everyone's input. Update on 'Hershey'. By Sunday she was eating like a pig and headbutting her mother, mom was really tired of being in a stall and we were getting really tired of trying to keep it clean. (12x10 stall with 1600lb cow and calf gets wet fast!) Put the two cows and calves together in a small pen for an hour or so. Seemed to go ok so we put them in a bigger pen with a shed. The other cow and calf have had a stall with a run to a pasture-that little bugger 'Pie' was running everywhere. In the bigger pen Hershey wore herself out running. By evening she seemed to be getting a little listless. We saw her nursing on Pie's mother but not on her own and we caught her stretching to drink water out of the 150gal tub which we'd filled to the top as well as a couple of mud puddles. I stewed at work all day monday about whether to split the cows up again and had kind of resigned myself that we might be raising a bottle calf. Swung by the barn on the way home and there she was nursing like she was starved on her own mother! Seems that during the day the cows had decided to separate their calves and with no mud puddles and lower water level in the tub the lazy little bugger finally decided mom set a pretty good table. Tuesday night we opened the pasture up and both calves spent an hour running the whole pasture (moms were not happy). We're still keeping a pretty close eye on her but it looks like we might now have two nice normal little heifers!

aoconnor1 · #10 09/14/14, 05:25 PM

Pretty little girls:-)

Jennifer L. · #11 09/15/14, 01:43 PM

You should NOT let your cow eat the afterbirth if you can get it away from them. It goes through in one long slimy slurp and it can get caught up in the valves between stomachs and cause big problems for the cow. The amount of nutrition the cow gets from it when they have good nutrition from what you feed them is not worth it next to them getting a problem from eating the placenta. Does this happen often? No. But the risk is there and is not worth it.

idigbeets · #12 09/16/14, 05:51 AM

Yea, it is possible for cows to choke on it and die, it is a source of hormones and some nutrients, but eating it is mainly a way to keep predators away. If the cow does not eat it, (or you don't take it) then the cows chase birds away all day, possibly forgetting about their newborn calf.

If you have one or five cows it might be easy to get the placenta away, but when you've got multiple calves dropping every day it probably won't happen. I'm of the mind to let nature take its course ....

randiliana · #13 09/20/14, 12:34 PM

All sounds pretty normal with your cows. We don't worry about what they do with the afterbirth, too many cows to try keeping up with that. I've heard of cows choking and dying when eating it, but never had it happen to us yet (crossing fingers). Some cows eat it, some don't and some seem to want to clean the whole place up.... As far as the heifer trying to steal the cow's calf, that isn't terribly unusual. Some say it is because they are calving in too small an area, but I've seen it happen out on 80 acres of land with only one other baby calf around. Some cows have a stronger drive to find a baby than others and don't know or care that they haven't actually had their own yet.

As far as locking your cows up at calving time, it is much better (if the weather is good) to let them calve in the outdoors rather than locked up in a pen. As you said yourself it's pretty hard keeping a stall clean with a 1600 lb cow and her new baby. 90%+ of the time you won't run into the issues you did this year...

haypoint · #14 09/20/14, 05:38 PM

A lot depends on your setup and your cows. If you can lead your cow to the barn in the event of calving problems, then that's best. If they are wild as the wind and you have no way to get them to the barn in an emergency, stall them.
You never want to be chasing a cow around a 80 acre pasture with a calf's nose sticking out of her.

randiliana · #15 09/20/14, 09:39 PM

Why not? You ever put a wild cow in the barn before? Things can get pretty interesting when you do that....I'd rather leave that kind outside unless absolutely necessary. It's really best to have a setup that makes it relatively easy to catch them up, regardless of temperament...

msscamp · #16 09/20/14, 09:53 PM

I'm with Randi on this one! I'd rather be chasing a wild cow around the pasture than rebuilding the side of the barn after she tries to go through a window or make a window. Something else to take into consideration is that putting a cow who is not used to being in a barn will stress them out and can cause problems.

msscamp · #17 09/20/14, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by idigbeets

Those types of cows go to freezer camp....

That is your choice. Why would I want to penalize a very good to outstanding mother when the solution is so very simple?

idigbeets · #18 09/21/14, 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msscamp

A word of warning on cows who steal other cows calves - keep a close eye on them! We had a cow who would steal the calf of any cow who calved after she went into labor and leave her calf to die. I've also had it happen with a couple of my goats.

You have a cow who has a calf. She leaves her current calf, to "steal" another one... leaving the first to die. You now have a bottle calf to take care of. Did I misread this?

Why would you want a cow like that?

mulemom · #19 09/21/14, 11:37 AM

Randi-We planned on letting them calve in the pasture. After forty years of raising horses we'd learned pasture babies get up quicker, nurse quicker and generally just seem stronger. We've had three or four times our normal amount of rain this year and with both cows circling and trying to own the calf they turned the area into a mudhole. More rain and heat was on its way so we wanted them inside where we could keep a better eye on them and we could keep the two separate until the heifer had her own calf. Idig-the cow who had the first calf is the mother of the heifer that tried to steal the calf. The heifer was starting labor when she tried to 'mother' the first calf. We don't think stealing will be a chronic problem with her-just part of confusion on her part over her first calving. When we put them back together it took a few hours for the heifer to decide she only had one calf but she figured it out. Thanks everyone for your information. Our next adventure will be putting the bull and the other cow out with moms and kids.

mulemom · #20 09/21/14, 11:42 AM

Thanks Aoconnor1. We really miss the QH and mule babies so the calves almost make up for them. They are darn cute and they rip and roar almost as much as the foals.