Pregnant Cow Help!

[farmerjan]

I am sorry for the stillborn calf. This is the 2nd one in a month and I would be concerned about the cows possibly have contracted some sort of virus. There are several that can cause abortion or stillborn calves.

One big question... have the cows been exposed to a bull that is different than the one they last were bred to? There are a couple of venereal diseases that bulls can transmit and all are highly infectious and can cause abortion and stillborn calves.
Do you vaccinate for any diseases? Not sure what route to tell you to go, but these would cause me to be very concerned. We have maybe 1 or 2 stillborn calves in a year and can usually attribute it to a specific cause. That is considered normal if in the 1% range... but we also vaccinate for several diseases, to help prevent any possible spread of organisms that cause abortion and/or stillborns.
One that is very common is Lepto and there are about 7-8 varieties of the organism that fall into the category and is common in any/all mammals.... it can be contracted by an animal drinking from some water infected by any animal with it...

I would have the fetus and afterbirth tested by a vet for possible infectious diseases if at all possible. They can do tissue samples to see if there is an infectious cause.

 

[farmerjan]

Reread your thread and it seems the other cow had trouble calving, so not likely it was a disease organism causing it. So that is a better sign. It could just be "the luck of the draw" that Bella had the stillborn calf... sometimes it happens.
I am sorry though that you lost 2 in a row. And after reading that the bull is long gone, I guess the best you can do is hope for a better year next year. I am assuming that you are not going to sell her..... sadly, she would be culled out of our herd here, even if a pet. Is her daughter still pregnant or is she the one that had to have the calf pulled that was dead?