Fresh calved cows

squinn2912

Went down this morning and calved an 11 yo suckler cow. Easy enough pull with the jack. This cow has had loads of handling over years and when they're within a few weeks I like to be in with them in the pen a couple or three times a day. I went to disinfect the calf's naval and she got very agitated. Does anyone have any secrets as to how to manouvre round cows after they've just calved?
I could've done it earlier as I had her neck caught but she was becoming distressed so I let her at the calf.
I went to a health and safety seminar recently and consensus was that a fresh calved cow is lethal yet advocate milking them etc.

tanko

Stay away from them after calving if at all possible, ive seen about 1000 calves born here and not one of them had their navel disinfected, only seen one case of joint ill in a weak twin.
I wouldnt go into a pen with a freshly calved cow without a graipe in my hand just in case.
Good handling facilities are crucial with sucklers. A crush with a proper headlock that allows a calf to suck from both sides is invaluble.
I cull cows with poor temperament and try to breed replacements off quiet ones. I culled cows with big udders/teats to cut out problems after calving.

kk.man

When I had sucklers years ago. There was a lovely quite cow you could do anything to her. Her last calving went good like the previous 6 odd. However on that occasion I could see her getting angry. I left the shed promptly.
Just like bulls you can never trust a freshly calves cow.

Who2

Any freshly calved cow is dangerous. i put in gates 18" off the ground in the calving pens so as i could swing them over any lying calf and corner the cow so as i could put iodine on them. it should be a stipulation that every farm thats calving cows should have proper calving facilities. ive seen the damage a bad cow can do. every calf here gets iodine after two years of continuous joint ill problems.

Doctors room ghost

There’s a lad working in athleague who is able to cure any bad temperament in cows.only takes a second and instead of you paying him,the crowd he works for pays you.great service and a permanent fix for a feisty b1tch

patsy_mccabe

squinn2912 wrote: »

..... Does anyone have any secrets as to how to manouvre round cows after they've just calved?
.....

You don't. Seperate cow from calf with strong gate. Work away on calf then.

john mayo 10

They can never be trusted. Seperate cow and calf if you have to do anything with the calf. ie bottle feed etc. Good handling facilities are cruicial

Dakota Dan

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

There’s a lad working in athleague who is able to cure any bad temperament in cows.only takes a second and instead of you paying him,the crowd he works for pays you.great service and a permanent fix for a feisty b1tch

A cow whisperer, would he be any good to have a word with stupid militant vegans

50HX

as already posted proper handling facilities and a clear escape route are the keys

i have a semi auto locking gate in the calving shed with a 6 foot gate back from it, on the piller at the end of the gate i have a 14ft gate that i swing either way
i can move the cow towards the wall and once she's up 3-4 feet i can lock the 14ft gate, backing bar then and into the head gate, off with the bottom 2bars of the 6ft gate and milk/drink away

i

squinn2912

Some good systems there. We have a gate that halves the pen as well. I was grabbing the calf through the bars and she got agitated. With a bit of patience I got him sprayed.
I disagree with the comment above I think it's essential to use iodine on calves particularly born indoors. One comfort is that I had the pen cleaned out last night with disinfectant lying on it overnight so she was going into a clean environment. We had a bullock on 3 legs for two years over a naval infection. One was enough so all calves are sprayed

whelan2

squinn2912 wrote: »

Some good systems there. We have a gate that halves the pen as well. I was grabbing the calf through the bars and she got agitated. With a bit of patience I got him sprayed.
I disagree with the comment above I think it's essential to use iodine on calves particularly born indoors. One comfort is that I had the pen cleaned out last night with disinfectant lying on it overnight so she was going into a clean environment. We had a bullock on 3 legs for two years over a naval infection. One was enough so all calves are sprayed

I dont use spray. Navel needs to be dipped in iodine. I use the lid of an aerosol can with iodine in it and dip the end of the navel in it

Dakota Dan

whelan2 wrote: »

I dont use spray. Navel needs to be dipped in iodine. I use the lid of an aerosol can with iodine in it and dip the end of the navel in it

I agree the sprays are watered down sh1te.

patsy_mccabe

whelan2 wrote: »

I dont use spray. Navel needs to be dipped in iodine. I use the lid of an aerosol can with iodine in it and dip the end of the navel in it

That's a good idea. Don't think the sprays work that well. I take it you don't throw the bigt left in the aerosol top back into the container.

Doctors room ghost

Dakota Dan wrote: »

A cow whisperer, would he be any good to have a word with stupid militant vegans

He’d be more of what you would call a cow stunner than a cow whisperer.in all fairness any lad who keeps a moody animal on a farm is asking for trouble.country is full of replacements and you still hear lads with a moody cow but she’s worth keeping cos she throws good calves.youd be only a rag doll to her if she went for you after calving.cattle aren’t scarce.
Only job is once they show aggression bring them to the factory first chance you get.none of the mart either.whatever you get for her in the factory put it to a replacement and aim for a docile herd.safer for all involved.

whelan2

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

That's a good idea. Don't think the sprays work that well. I take it you don't throw the bigt left in the aerosol top back into the container.

No. Wouldn't be putting alot in it.

squinn2912

whelan2 wrote: »

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

That's a good idea. Don't think the sprays work that well. I take it you don't throw the bigt left in the aerosol top back into the container.

No. Wouldn't be putting alot in it.

We used to do the same with the lids but I don't like the idea of dust and things gettin on those either. Spray seems to work fine never had an issue with a calf that got it

Doctors room ghost

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

He’d be more of what you would call a cow stunner than a cow whisperer.in all fairness any lad who keeps a moody animal on a farm is asking for trouble.country is full of replacements and you still hear lads with a moody cow but she’s worth keeping cos she throws good calves.youd be only a rag doll to her if she went for you after calving.cattle aren’t scarce.
Only job is once they show aggression bring them to the factory first chance you get.none of the mart either.whatever you get for her in the factory put it to a replacement and aim for a docile herd.safer for all involved.

In fairness if you were judging a cows temperament just after calving you would be sending them all to the factory. I've seen the quietest cows get a bit aggressive in the pen after calving but once they are let out for a while they are back to being as quiet as could be again for the rest of the year after that.

charolais0153

Damari Uninterested Manicure wrote: »

In fairness if you were judging a cows temperament just after calving you would be sending them all to the factory. I've seen the quietest cows get a bit aggressive in the pen after calving but once they are let out for a while they are back to being as quiet as could be again for the rest of the year after that.

Ya out of 16 cows 9 were quiet after calving 7 were 'aggressive' . one is still untrustworthy so she is getting road

Mooooo

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

That's a good idea. Don't think the sprays work that well. I take it you don't throw the bigt left in the aerosol top back into the container.

I find spray fine but if you want to dip it get a teat dip cup