# overdue calf



## 1wandabean (Mar 29, 2011)

Help  can't get message to post properly cause I am too worred about heifer.   Don't have a birthing date but she is bagged up and EXPREMELY swollen in vulva...I mean extremely swollen.....other than that she is eating and very active.  Laying down a bit more than usual but she is huge.  Should I try to go in and check to see if calf is still alive.  She has been like this over two weeks now.  Don't have chute or stocks but can get help and try to tie her head to the fence and take my chances.    Please advise if there is anything else I can do to see if things are ok...Can't get a cow vet out to my place for love or all the money in the world.  They are horse vets and WON'T TOUCH A COW...

Thanks for our help.....Joyce


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## herfrds (Mar 29, 2011)

First relax.
We have a cow that bags up for 2 weeks before she has her calf. She also lays there and moo's for at least a week before she calves.

As long as the cow is happy and eating there is nothing to worry about.
My last milk cow looked like she was going to have a 100# plus calf. She had a 75# calf.
Have another cow that always looks like she is going to have twins every year. She has a single calf instead.

Just watch her side above the flank. You can see the calf kicking in there, but if the calf has turned you won't see it kicking.

I wouldn't try tying her head up and try to palpate her. Goot chance of you getting injuried pretty bad. I still have a lump on my leg thanks to my milk cow. It has been over a month.
Not worth the hospital bill.


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## Bossroo (Mar 29, 2011)

After you tie that cow to a fence and put your arm inside the cow  to check on the unborn calf... can you then confirm what the surface of the moon looks like up close and personal? Pretty please ! Many still believe that the moon is made from green cheese.


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## 1wandabean (Mar 29, 2011)

OKAY   will wait and hold my breath.  Had to pull a dead one last year from another heifer so just kind of nervous....thanks...she is still happy as a clam...I'm not doing as well as her.   Last one to calf this season....wouldn't you know it.  Will keep you posted....thanks again.


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## clarmayfarm (Apr 2, 2011)

Yep, very normal for some first time heifers...

If she is eating and active, she and calf are likely okay. 

Keep an eye on her, though. If she begins to strain/ calve, watch her closely, and only intervene if she has pushed hard for more than 1-2 hr and no progress.  Then you can go in and feel for front feet. If you can feel front feet and a nose, you are good. If not, you had better talk one of those horse vets into coming for a visit!


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## perrydicevalleyfarm (Apr 20, 2011)

clarmayfarm said:
			
		

> Yep, very normal for some first time heifers...
> 
> If she is eating and active, she and calf are likely okay.
> 
> Keep an eye on her, though. If she begins to strain/ calve, watch her closely, and only intervene if she has pushed hard for more than 1-2 hr and no progress.  Then you can go in and feel for front feet. If you can feel front feet and a nose, you are good. If not, you had better talk one of those horse vets into coming for a visit!


this! first calf heifers can bag for a while before calving. We have one who has been bagging for almost a month, we're just waiting patiently, you figure, they have an entire bag that the have to drop and fill. Milkers already have the bag there, just dry. Completely normal for it to take a couple weeks once they start bagging. I've also noticed (at least for our cows) this...

Milker cows that bag up quick or freshen before they are fully bagged tend to have heifers.
Milkers that bag slow tend to have bulls.
Heifers who bag forever seem to have heifers
Heifers who bag up quick have bulls. 

Here it's opposite from a 2nd or 3rd lactation milker to a 1st calf heifer.. I don't know if anyone else's cows do that. But thats just our experience with them. (we are an 80+ dairy in NY, just me and my DH)


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## Royd Wood (Apr 20, 2011)

Oh come on Bossroo - you know damm well its made of cheese

Sounds to me like she will be fine - I just pulled a cow out from the others and put her in calving pen convinced she was about to drop and waited 7 days meanwhile another one who to me looked like 2 weeks off dropped hers in the mud  what do I know ??????????????


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## Bossroo (Apr 21, 2011)

Gosh Royd... Every time I look at the moon it appears yellow , NOT green,so it can't be made of green cheese as claimed in some book.       So I assume that that is an out and out lie or a story told by a drunken fairy.     Since I see yellow, I thaught that it is made from butter since I saw a picture of a cow jumping over the moon!!!        Then sometimes I see it to appear  huge , round and orange, so now I wonder...Since some people "know" dam well that it is made of cheese...   :bun   is it possible for it to be a huge Ritz cracker ?


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