Heifer Couldn't Birth Calf....what next?

[DHM0915]

New here so sorry if this has been covered!! We have 4 heifers, two have birthed with in the past month no problems with midsize calves. One of our Baldys couldn't birth her baby yesterday and by the time I got to her it was partially out and already deceased. (All girls pregnant from same bull) Got calf out, gave her a shot of antibiotics, and now monitoring her. My question is what's the likelihood of her being able to birth another calf on her own in the future???

Thanks!

 

[cjc]

I haven't had this issue but I did have my heifer lose her first calf at 1 month old. When a local cattle guy came by he told me "the next one will be better". She wasn't nearly the mother our other cows are, but she will learn.

I bet @WildRoseBeef would know the answer to this question.

 

[Bernard]

This happens at times to the best. She might be ok with next calving. I would make darn sure a low birth weight bull was used. Could you possible get a replacement calf on her?

 

[WildRoseBeef]

She'll be fine next calving. It's rare for a heifer or cow to go infertile if they had trouble calving or birthed stillborn. The only time infertility will result is if there's an infection of the uterus that is severe enough to cause temporary, infertility in cattle. If she has no uterine infection, she'll be fine.

Next time, keep a closer eye on the calving heifers. Heifers are notorious for being a P.I.T.A at calving time, so they need more attention than more experienced cows typically do. That way you can be more ready to act when one of them is having trouble and needs a calf pulled.

 

[jhm47]

More than likely she will do fine with the next calf. However, she may have a very small pelvic opening, and that could pose a problem with any subsequent calves. I'd have a vet check her, or else someone who is familiar with cattle reproduction. While doing our AI on many cows/heifers, we often run into some that have very small pelvic openings, and we advise the owners to keep a very close watch on these heifers.

 

[DHM0915]

Thank you so much, our bull was low birth weight and the other two calves he fathered that were just born were small too. Never thought of her having a small pelvic opening. We have been checking on her everyday and of course the one weekend we were gone one night this happens :/
We have considering getting a calf for her how long is too long to wait before doing this?? I wanted to give her a couple days first to make sure she's ok.....

Thanks again

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Some or a lot of producers will cull heifers based on pelvic opening size, among other things. It's more because they'd rather have the heifers calve out themselves than to be always watching and worrying about the ones that will more than likely have trouble come calving. Best time to check is before the heifers are going to see the bull. Other times it's after. Either or makes no difference, just the producer's personal choice.

Get a calf on her ASAP. Her milk will dry up in a couple of weeks, so the sooner you can try to put a calf on her (and hope to God she accepts it, because that will be a challenge), the better. Just be warned, heifers aren't the best at accepting calves like cows. But she'll learn if the calf is stubborn and keeps trying to suckle her no matter how many times she tries to kick it off.