Calving Intervention - When?

[deleted user 837354]

Mine are scanned singles [emoji106]

I do not know enough about scanning to comment but I do know my wife and her colleagues are called out with painful regularity to a sick cow that has mysteriously gone down having recently calved and the unknown payload is the root cause. Not the kind of thing anyone wants to extract via the side door for obvious reasons.

 

[Dr. Alkathene]

Mine are scanned singles [emoji106]

Vets do get it wrong more often than I would like I check everything for 2nd and 3rd calf even if they have been scanned as singles. Get the odd surprise

 

[sjewart]

Vets do get it wrong more often than I would like I check everything for 2nd and 3rd calf even if they have been scanned as singles. Get the odd surprise

Oh well wouldn't have thought of that. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[sjewart]

I'm happy for them to take far longer than that, if no progress for an hour after bag is out then check presented correctly. If she is making progress, moving about, pushing and calf does not appear distressed I'm quite happy for 5-6 hours in total. Obviously once out at the shoulders then will dive in quickly if needed in case it hangs at the hips. Often they just take time to open up and diving in to calve them is going to cause damage.
I'll add an edit to that, as it's not clear in my text, after checking presented correctly (which is essential if she's not making progress) then I like to check her at least every hour within that overall timeframe. (It reads at bit as if I'd check them after the first hour and then not again until 5 hrs).

Do you put them into a calving gate to check presentation then release them - re-crushing them every hour to check progress?

 

[czechmate]

No.

I think the question was to grassman. I was thinking the same as @Henarar as those numbers seemed very large for uk sucklers

 

[Whitepeak]

Me and my dad are very much ones to leave them to it, but keep having a look every so often and only intervene if there is no progress or you get that feeling something is wrong. But since we've gone over to Blondes we very rarely see them calve.
My grandad on the other hand was a beggar for getting the calving bar as soon as he saw the feet!
Did calve one on Saturday night at the dairy farm I work at. Nose was just showing when i did the last check, so went and finished another job, went back to check but she hadn't progressed in the 15-20mins I had gone and she wasnt pushing, all I did was put the ropes on and gently lean back to encourage her to start pushing again. Live heifer calf

 

[Matt77]

This is a good tread, I think I’m guilty of diving in too early I’ve only a small number to worry about but why do they alway start at 11pm when I want to go to bed my lot are due to start next month and I’ve told myself to be more patient!

 

[sjewart]

This is a good tread, I think I’m guilty of diving in too early I’ve only a small number to worry about but why do they alway start at 11pm when I want to go to bed my lot are due to start next month and I’ve told myself to be more patient!

Searched for a similar thread and couldn't find one. Mine start next month too. Good luck

 

[Matt77]

Searched for a similar thread and couldn't find one. Mine start next month too. Good luck

Stupid auto correct insert “h” into relevant place!! (thread)

 

[Werzle]

Do you put them into a calving gate to check presentation then release them - re-crushing them every hour to check progress?

Messing with them like that will put them off calving imo

 

[sjewart]

Messing with them like that will put them off calving imo

Wondered that [emoji848]

 

[Bopeep1981]

What is your vet practice like for telephone advice? Ours is pretty good, so if we ever have a query we give them a call, explain the situation and they will offer advice, or a call out if they think it warrants it.

I remember we had a cow a few years back that was calving outdoors. She seemed to be taking a while. Vet told us if we could see front feet, leave her alone for a good couple of hours. Agonising to wait sometimes, but they were right, and she popped out a healthy heifer calf.

I am more twitchy with heifers, but I also think that if you get too involved at calving it can disrupt the mothering process, so tend to find a hiding place and keep watch.

Also, if you do have a bit of a hard calving, don't be afraid to whip out the metacam for pain relief. I think it helps new mums take to their calves better if they are not in too much pain. After delivering a 9lb 10oz baby, I can sympathize with them!!

 

[sjewart]

What is your vet practice like for telephone advice? Ours is pretty good, so if we ever have a query we give them a call, explain the situation and they will offer advice, or a call out if they think it warrants it.

I remember we had a cow a few years back that was calving outdoors. She seemed to be taking a while. Vet told us if we could see front feet, leave her alone for a good couple of hours. Agonising to wait sometimes, but they were right, and she popped out a healthy heifer calf.

I am more twitchy with heifers, but I also think that if you get too involved at calving it can disrupt the mothering process, so tend to find a hiding place and keep watch.

Also, if you do have a bit of a hard calving, don't be afraid to whip out the metacam for pain relief. I think it helps new mums take to their calves better if they are not in too much pain. After delivering a 9lb 10oz baby, I can sympathize with them!!

Ours is OK for telephone advice during the day but not so keen to ask for advice only after hours - and normally I'm questioning my next move in the middle of the night [emoji848]

Il make sure iv metacam on hand [emoji106]

 

[Dr. Alkathene]

Do you put them into a calving gate to check presentation then release them - re-crushing them every hour to check progress?

Have found putting them in crush upsets them a bit much. At work have a gate that chains to gate between calving pens. Can quietly move them behind the gate, chain it to other gate and feel inside without upsetting them too much.

 

[Henarar]

I think the question was to grassman. I was thinking the same as @Henarar as those numbers seemed very large for uk sucklers

I asked if he was a dairy farmer because a live calf is much more important to a suckler farmer than it is to a dairy farmer

as for when to intervene I have made the mistake of going in to quick but have also made the mistake of leaving it to long, its a judgement call based on how it is going

and as for heavily muscled terminal type heifers not being able to calve on there own well we proved that wrong with our first ped heifer who calved on her own and several other peds and heavy cross breeds have since, the majority of them will calve with a little or no intervention but some won't, well that's what we have found

 

[sjewart]

Have found putting them in crush upsets them a bit much. At work have a gate that chains to gate between calving pens. Can quietly move them behind the gate, chain it to other gate and feel inside without upsetting them too much.

I have a new calving gate. Intend to put them in it to check presentation but only put them back in it again if I have to intervene later on.

 

[sjewart]

I asked if he was a dairy farmer because a live calf is much more important to a suckler farmer than it is to a dairy farmer

as for when to intervene I have made the mistake of going in to quick but have also made the mistake of leaving it to long, its a judgement call based on how it is going

and as for heavily muscled terminal type heifers not being able to calve on there own well we proved that wrong with our first ped heifer who calved on her own and several other peds and heavy cross breeds have since, the majority of them will calve with a little or no intervention but some won't, well that's what we have found

I sell my heifers with 3 month calf at foot so a live calf is super important.

I try to manage their feed accordingly and hope for the best at calving. The ones to calve next is not too extreme but the belly is getting big on a pure lim[emoji21]

 

[Henarar]

I sell my heifers with 3 month calf at foot so a live calf is super important.

I try to manage their feed accordingly and hope for the best at calving. The ones to calve next is not too extreme but the belly is getting big on a pure lim[emoji21]

what are they in calf to ?

 

[sjewart]

what are they in calf to ?

Lim

 

[Henarar]

Lim

proven easy calving one I hope ?