What to do?!?!?!

[jerseygirl21]

I'm a first time Jersey cow owner. I'm kinda fretting because I don't know what to do when my cow has a calf. Peanut Butter is do in 11 days and I don't know what excatly I need for the birth. Could you please help me?

 

[jhm47]

The first thing you will need to do is cultivate some patience. Cows have been giving birth since time immemorial, and with very little assistance from humans. Cattle have an inborn instinct that will virtually always compel them to give birth, clean the calf, and encourage it to nurse. Getting colostrum into the calf within 6 hours is very important to it's health.

Some questions:

1. What is the cow bred to? Hopefully she was bred to a Jersey bull, or some other easy calving breed.

2. Is this her first calf? If so, the chance of problems is more likely than if she has calved before.

3. Do you have a clean, draft free place for her to give birdh? If not, create one

4. Do you have a working relationship with a large animal veterinarian? It's unlikely that you will need one, but just in case--!

Other than that, I would think that a simple iodine solution that you can dip the newborn's navel into is about all you will need.

Good luck, and keep us informed.

 

[Royd Wood]

All the above and when she starts to calve let her settle and leave her to get on with it as it may take a while. When you can see the toes (front legs) and mouth showing at least you know its not a breech birth. Remember nose and toes is good
Have you any neighboring farmer friends who could be on standby for you

Let us know how it goes

 

[freemotion]

I've never seen a cow give birth but I've seen lots of horses do so and a few goats, so let me clarify something so you don't panic...

If you get to see it happen (hope you do, it is amazing!) you will likely first see a bubble (amniotic sac), then one hoof, followed by another hoof, (the shoulders are off-set to allow them to pass through more easily) and a nose resting on the forelegs. Don't pull. Let her do it.

Don't forget your camera!

 

[herfrds]

Look at the hooves. Are the bottoms pointing down? If so nothing to worry about.
If the bottom is pointing up, call a vet or neighbor ASAP.

If this is her first calf it will take quite awhile. If she has calved before it will still take some time, but not quite as long.

Relax and enjoy the experience. Try to stay out of her sight and be quiet or she will get nervous.

We watch our first calve heifers in another part of our barn. There is a huge gap between a couple of boards. Only time we cannot see them is when they lay right up against that wall.
saved a couple of calves because of this.

 

[jhm47]

I've probably seen 300 - 400 calves born in my lifetime. Some of he older cows can go quite quickly. I've seen some that delivered a calf within 15 - 20 minutes from the time the water bag appeared. Some of the first calf heifers take up to 6 - 7 hours. I usually wait at least 4 hours from the time the water bag appears before I even examine the heifer. If everything is in place, I leave her for another hour or two. After that, I get worried. If you are not experienced in calving, you would do well to cultivate a good relationship with a vet who is. And, the placenta does not need to be delivered quickly. I always leave mine up to 4 days before giving oxytocin. I get quite a lot of twins, and retained placentas are common with them. I once had a cow calving with two feet and a nose visible. Trouble was, one of the feet was a back foot of one twin, and the other foot was a front foot of the other. Took me awhile to figure that one out, but I saved them both.

 

[glenolam]

I went through my first calvings this past fall. We had three heifers all bred and only needed to call the vet out for the third. We woke up one morning to a calf on the ground, already dried up and nursing, the second cow walked off by herself (which is one of the signs, btw) and 4-5 hours later my husband had to assist her and pulled out a nice heifer calf. About a month later the third heifer went into labor. She walked around with the "bubble" sticking out for a few hours - we called a friend who tried to help us deliver the calf, but he thought it'd be best to have the vet out. The vet delivered the calf with hoof chains and we actually thought we lost it since the calf was in the birth canal for so long, but to our delight a nice bull was born.

It all was amazing to watch and go through and we learned a lot. I agree patience is key and as long as you remain calm, give her a draft free place to calve (although 2/3 of mine calved in a field!) she'll be fine.

Also - all three of mine didn't pass their placentas until 2 weeks after the birth. I was very concerned but the vet said it was OK and if it went longer than 2 weeks he'd come out and take a look. But all three passed it and everyone's doing great.

Here's my thread in case you wanted to read about my adventure.

Have fun and as free said - DON'T FORGET THE CAMERA!

 

[PattySh]

I am anticipating breeding my heifer in the near future and have been reading a very informative book., 325 pages of info......
Essential Guide to Calving, Heather Smith Thomas (by Storey Publishing)

tons of information and lots of pictures, I paid $24.95
I highly recommend it to anyone with a cow going to give birth. Talks you through alot of what if's!!!!

 

[jerseygirl21]

Thank you to all the posted all the great infomation!