Cows Calving .

Richk2012

Was talking to a neighbour of mine last week and he was giving out about having to get up and check a heifer calving during the night .

He checked her at 11 before he went to bed and she wasnt doing anything .
Back out at 4.30 and she had calved a big simmental bull calf .

I was giving him a hand dehorning a few calves one of the evenings last week , when the conversation took place and seen the calf and heifer mentioned above.
The heifer is swollen behind and looks to be torn from the heavy stretching she got .
He was joking saying he shouldnt have bothered getting up as she managed herself , while i was thinking he is a lucky fukcer to have both of them standing.

Anyway this man has around 60 suckler cows and he is never with one of them calving .
Autumn calvers all calf in the field .
The routine is usually finding a cow and calf next morning .

He doesnt believe in watching them when calving , and was making a joke of me getting up during the night for every cow of mine that calves .

What is the general routine when your cows are calving .
Watch them or like this lad leave them to their own devices ????

case 956

always survise at all calvings, will check before bed and f a cow sick will stay up or go to bed and get up during night depending on how far she has progresses, checked first thing morning and several times during the day

td5man

Richk2012 wrote: »

Was talking to a neighbour of mine last week and he was giving out about having to get up and check a heifer calving during the night .

He checked her at 11 before he went to bed and she wasnt doing anything .
Back out at 4.30 and she had calved a big simmental bull calf .

I was giving him a hand dehorning a few calves one of the evenings last week , when the conversation took place and seen the calf and heifer mentioned above.
The heifer is swollen behind and looks to be torn from the heavy stretching she got .
He was joking saying he shouldnt have bothered getting up as she managed herself , while i was thinking he is a lucky fukcer to have both of them standing.

Anyway this man has around 60 suckler cows and he is never with one of them calving .
Autumn calvers all calf in the field .
The routine is usually finding a cow and calf next morning .

He doesnt believe in watching them when calving , and was making a joke of me getting up during the night for every cow of mine that calves .

What is the general routine when your cows are calving .
Watch them or like this lad leave them to their own devices ????

Look at them at 11, if it looks like one might calve up again at 2-3 and again at 6-7.
Turn my back for 5 minutes and something will go wrong. :rolleyes:

1chippy

A calf coming backwards, caught at the hips or too long calving. i seen a lot of cows not pushing the last year. all these are enough of a reason to get up and check them. how is his mortality at birth. even just to get the biestings into the calf is seriously important. i enjoy seeing another newborn landing anyway.

moy83

I wouldnt be a big watcher but as the father says they could calve no bother and smother on a bit of cleaning two minutes later so its better keep an eye if they are getting sick to calf . Usually 12 before bed and then six again in the morn but if they are near the house the father will check at 2 and 4 aswell .
I know lads that wouldn't be in the habit of checking at night and seem to do ok mortality wise but there is nothing worse than losing a calf and knowing a bit of intervention on your behalf would have saved it

INOX

Used to check round 11, 2.30 if there was a chance of something, and up at 6.30. Got a camera few years ago, great investment.
A lad rang for a hand with cow calving one Saturday night. Delivered calf sound, ur man says thanks lads I'm off to town. Cow and calf on oul road deep drain one side and a wall the other. Pitch black frosty night couldn't b arsed to move them or see the calf suck. Very careless!

Richk2012

1chippy wrote: »

A calf coming backwards, caught at the hips or too long calving. i seen a lot of cows not pushing the last year. all these are enough of a reason to get up and check them. how is his mortality at birth. even just to get the biestings into the calf is seriously important. i enjoy seeing another newborn landing anyway.

He has a very low mortality rate to be honest .
He has two easy calving limousin stock bulls which make life easier for him but the weanlings end up very plain .

It jus surprised and annoyed me how someone can be so carefree with that number of cows and making a joke of me and other lads that are attentive to cows calving ..

The idea of a camera is appealing to me a lot more tho as someone mentioned there

ceannfort

Farming to me is all about getting a system that's works for you. He is willing to accept lesser calves for a reduced work load at calving. I know plenty like that but personally I would rather mind and help calve cows and collect decent money when selling. At the cost of production I can't see how plain suck calves pay for their mothers keep. At calving time all cows are checked every 3 - 4hrs. Cameras are worth anything for this.

just do it

Richk2012 wrote: »

The idea of a camera is appealing to me a lot more tho as someone mentioned there

One of those things that after you get it you think how did I ever manage without it. A hidden advantage is you're not constantly disturbing the cow while you're checking on her.

onyerbikepat

Ya camera is great job. You can also use record function and check that calf has drunk ok.

whelan1

Have a camera but it's in a shed I don't use anymore. Normally set alarm on phone. Calving shed is now at back of house . I just look out the window and can see what's happening. That said I have been known to fall back back asleep and end up regretting not checking

towzer2010

whelan1 wrote: »

Have a camera but it's in a shed I don't use anymore. Normally set alarm on phone. Calving shed is now at back of house . I just look out the window and can see what's happening. That said I have been known to fall back back asleep and end up regretting not checking

Same here. Was often checking a cow for two nights and overslept at the vital time. You could be lucky or unlucky. Lost a big CH bull calf two years for the sake of half an hour I overslept. :mad:

KatyMac

I was watching a heifer this year during the day. Looked at lunchtime, around 4.30 and making/eating dinner got in the way and when I went out to check her about 7.30 she was in a hole, trying to calve uphill and the calf had smothered!! A week later watching another heifer in calf to the same bull - went out early morning and wasn't able to catch her and her calf! You really can't win. I heard a great saying recently, "the only man who doesn't lose animals is the man who doesn't have any!".

Brown Podzol

KatyMac wrote: »

I was watching a heifer this year during the day. Looked at lunchtime, around 4.30 and making/eating dinner got in the way and when I went out to check her about 7.30 she was in a hole, trying to calve uphill and the calf had smothered!! A week later watching another heifer in calf to the same bull - went out early morning and wasn't able to catch her and her calf! You really can't win. I heard a great saying recently, "the only man who doesn't lose animals is the man who doesn't have any!".

Misery begets misery. I always feel better when I meet someone I consider a good farmer who has lost a few, like myself. The person who looses nothing, most likely telling lies, would depress you.

just do it

At the end of the day we can only hope to reduce mortality, not eliminate it! It's still a blow to lose one

Bizzum

just do it wrote: »

At the end of the day we can only hope to reduce mortality, not eliminate it! It's still a blow to lose one

This would be my attitude. Put the best practice in place you can endeavor to minimize mortality. We all lose one, but when you start losing more than usual you need to be asking yourself why.

delaval

Cows calve on their own here in so far as we can allow.

Cows checked at 5 am and all calves tubed, tagged and moved to calf pens cow to milking shed. At 3.30 we repeat. All cows are liked at next milking.

Our night time routine is to check at 6 pm 9 and at 11. Bed and nothing till 5 am.

No camera, jack rarely used. We used to pay a guy to do night calving but found mortality no different when we stopped getting him.

IMO it's more important with sucklers to be present because of bigger calves and its all of your income.

Cow and heifer condition is very important. Not transporting or mixing of cows also very important for calf presentation

keep going

Put in cameras last year with 2 in the calving house and 2 in cubicle house beside it that is the" pre natal"ward.the best thing about the in the calving shed is that you can leave them alone unless they get into trouble-they are not moving every time you look at them.the 2 in the are great for spotting the ones coming near

Bodacious

towzer2010 wrote: »

Same here. Was often checking a cow for two nights and overslept at the vital time. You could be lucky or unlucky. Lost a big CH bull calf two years for the sake of half an hour I overslept. :mad:

I know the feeling Towzer .. I lost my best calf last year from my best cow the same way.. fxxked with flu and took that Benlyin night time nurse tablet and I overslept and I was too late.. id have got him too as she big and wide and I managed to take him dead on the jack so would have backed myself and the ole lad to take him with her fresh (played out trying to put him out by then) and working with us. god it still hurts as he was a belter of a calf and extremely muscled ,,, I thought of him even when I sold my bull weanlings, got E3.00 a kilo for a similar red limo OZS a heifers calf but he was a kitten compared to lad I lost.. cow is black lim Rocky and stockbull was Mas Du CLo sired... the calf was some sort of overmuscled throwback.. some cross... she calving in Feb to kilmoney Bruce the blonde and if I have to take her into the bedroom with me to calf her I will

Mac Taylor

I normally check cows on way to work and had one sick on the slats. Moved her to the back pen and rang the auld lad to keep an eye on her. An hour later while he was watching her calving away (out of sight I might add) on the ground she got up but then fell back and with calf 1/2 way out, she caught the calf on one of the gates and broke his neck. The auld lad was able to pull the calf out by hand. He was sickened, massive limx bull calf. Sometimes #hit happens no matter whether your there or not.

Bodacious

Mac Taylor wrote: »

I normally check cows on way to work and had one sick on the slats. Moved her to the back pen and rang the auld lad to keep an eye on her. An hour later while he was watching her calving away (out of sight I might add) on the ground she got up but then fell back and with calf 1/2 way out, she caught the calf on one of the gates and broke his neck. The auld lad was able to pull the calf out by hand. He was sickened, massive limx bull calf. Sometimes #hit happens no matter whether your there or not.

sorry to hear that Mac, that's a total dose a pure freak accident