Heifer slipping calf

893bet

Assume this lady has slipped below. She is 3 months to day from calving?

Do I need to do anything? She is on an out farm with no easy way home for at least the next 3 weeks.

Jb1989

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058211636/heifer-slipping-calf

Not sure but sorry to hear lad, 👍🏻

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058211636/heifer-slipping-calf

I'd try to take her home the hard way then. Don't think I'd leave her out there with colour of a cleaning for 3 weeks without some sort of intervention.

893bet

What is the intervention?

Jb1989

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117976106#Comment_117976106

Possibly an antibiotics if her insides were moveing when they shouldn't be.

Did you see any sign of a calf body or does it come after the cleaning in this instance?

Jb1989

Phone call to your vet now might be no harm if replies here are slow.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117976106#Comment_117976106

Intervention might be an injection to induce the calf if it is not already out and antibiotics. Antibiotics only - if the calf is out.

If the calf isn't out would be bad as it will start to go off inside and poison her and worst case scenario would be losing the cow if she couldn't birth it. I wouldn't expect a living calf at 3 months out from due date with that colour of cleaning unfortunately.

893bet

Def assume calf is gone.

It will be Friday before I can get her home. Will ring the vet in the morning to see what they advise for treatment.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117976689#Comment_117976689

I walked the field as best I could and found nothing. But it’s a big square of ground. It’s raining now stop. And the fox could easily have it whipped.

Gut feeling feeling says she still has it.

funkey_monkey

Done all you can do, just ask the vet what signs you need to look out for. Keep us posted and good luck.

dohc turbo2

Ur vet will most likely want her blood tested

funkey_monkey

@893bet - did you get any word from the vet?

893bet

Isolate her and keep an eye. Unlikely to have passed the calf if there is something hanging out the back still and it can take up to a week. Cleaning and take another few days after that.

Don’t touch the cleaning as it may be samonella as the most likely cause.

Gonna have to wait till Friday in either case.

RD10

Had a 2nd calver do that few years ago.

Same stuff hanging out the back of her, vet said she was likely about to abort rather than having just aborted and to keep an eye, I think the next morning there was a fetus on the ground.

Mine was inside when it happened so was easy spot.

I'd keep a eye out on yours with the colour of that. Make sure no smell etc.

Best to ring your own vet for advice though.

funkey_monkey

@893bet how is she coming along now, any better?

893bet

Home since yesterday. Clean as whistle at the back. Father thinks she passed it as if she hadn’t there would always be a bit hanging as it wouldn’t break cleanly.

Not sure what do do with her now. Either feed her on or sell and sell at xmas or sell soon enough.

She was 555kg early July, and surely 600 now. But is tall and long and still growing rather than putting on flesh.

minerleague

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117999108#Comment_117999108

She hardly having twins and lost one ??

Anto_Meath

Get her checked out before you make any decisions. As said she could have had twins and lost one.

funkey_monkey

If there is another one I'd expect it to be poisoned by the aborted one.

Jb1989

Well 893, how she since?

893bet

100 percent. Never a sign of anything from her since.

On nuts twice a day and loving life

Easten

Was there huntsmen in the area? I had a heifer throw a calf before after them shooting in the same field. Hunting season opened last week too.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118134699#Comment_118134699

Unless a lone huntsman. Heavy boggy land and hunters would be very rare. The only thing I can think of is that I dosed her for worms the few weeks before with Curazole, but that is supposed to be safe during pregnancy.

Easten

Any of them "zole" treatments are harmless unless you give them about 5 times the dose and even then you'll just have a cow with a sick stomach for a day or two.

From the pic the heifer looks in fine form, it she was distress or poor you'd think that might be a factor so for me I'd be thinking it must be something external happen her.

older by the day

I had a fr heifer slip one this time last year. Passing dirty stuff, for a few months after. I was talking to the vet and he said a fox probably took the foetus but she passed it a couple of months later, I found it on the slats . I never touched her. She went back in calf in may .

Sugarbowl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118139465#Comment_118139465

Found a cow with the cleaning hanging out of her this evening. No reason for it off hand. A big older cow of the bunch so wouldn’t be bullied. A May calver… didn’t see a foetus yet. Unless fallen into the slats. Gave her a dose of curafluke the first week of November. I thought of you 893bet when it happened. Surely it wouldn’t be the dose that cause it?! A real lesson for myself not to be counting my chickens before they are standing in the straw…

funkey_monkey

I would have thought the foetus would have been too big at this stage to go through the slats? She might have got trod on hit at the feeding gate.

Lost one like that a few years ago - getting hit or trauma of some sort was the only conclusion we could think of.

The man in red and black

The only way to diagnose what caused abortions is examination by a vet, bloods and sending foetus and cleanings to the lab. If you do all of that you will get an answer on average 50% of the time. Unfortunately sometimes by the time the calf is actually aborted the bacteria that caused the infection is long gone, salmonella can be one that does this. Calves are swimming around in 50 litres of amniotic fluid to cushion them from trauma. Trauma is often blamed but rarely the cause.

It's always worth investigating because if you find out you have something you can vaccinate for causing abortions you don't want to be waiting until the 2nd or 3rd abortion to find that out. Can also be related to mouldy silage at this time of the year.