Cow calving: preparing for calving and calving

Cow calving, or “calving” as it is primarily known, can be an anxious and long-awaited time for any farm or ranch, large or small, especially one where the calving season is defined, or if you have a small herd. only one to five cows in your care. One thing to emphasize when it comes to calving cows is patience. Waiting for a cow or heifer to calve is like waiting for a pot of water to boil.

The gestation period for a cow or heifer, another word for the length of pregnancy, is around 285 days. During that time, from the point where the bull’s sperm penetrates and fuses with the cow’s ovum or ovum, initiating cell division into a blastocyst and then into an embryo that becomes a calf fetus, the living being inside the cow’s uterus. the cow is constantly growing and developing until it reaches a point where it can no longer grow because the cow’s uterus can only stretch so far. It is at this point that the work of the cow begins. Very few know that it is actually the offspring within the mother’s womb that is responsible for the onset of labor, not the mother herself. Stress signals from the calf travel through the umbilical cord to the placenta to the brain and ovaries of the cow, where different chemicals and hormones are released to make them ready for the calf to be born, from the release of the cervical plug to the initial uterus. contractions to bring the calf into the normal position for delivery. The first stages of calving occur in a cow hours before the actual calving event occurs. This is where you should be on the lookout for signs that labor is imminent.

What are the signs to look for in a calving cow or heifer?

Initially, its udder may begin to fill with colostrum, the first milk for a calf, but the nipples may not become engorged until the birth is quite imminent. Your vulva will also fill with blood, making it look a bit swollen, your sides will sag in front of your thighs (this is the smooth part of your pelvis), and some mucus may come out of your vulva. She will get nervous and start looking for a place to give birth. When her udder is full, it is about 3-7 days from calving. However, some cows or heifers will not show any regrowth until the day they are about to give birth; others may have a bag full for weeks before leaving a calf. When her sides sag, it is around 1-3 days from delivery. When there is a discharge from your vulva that is clear, not sticky, and stringy, it is usually less than a day away from giving birth. However, if the discharge is stickier and thicker, this is just the mucus plug being removed, which occurs about a week before delivery. When you see that bag of water, which is a yellowish sac hanging from your vulva, it is quite obvious that you are in labor and it is only a matter of minutes before the feet and head of the calf begin to show.

The annoying thing about heifers is that you never know when it’s going to “explode.” She could be showing all the signs that at any moment she will stop having a calf and will do nothing for two to three weeks in a row! Or it would be the exact opposite: it will show absolutely no signs, but suddenly there is a calf on the ground that is making it clear that it is his. Many cows can be the same way, so it is always best to be prepared for the unexpected.

How does a cow give birth anyway?

As mentioned earlier, the initial signs are that she is walking and is quite restless. Many cows will wander away from the herd and seek a private place to give birth in peace. She will act quite uncomfortable, lie down and then get up, then lie down again after a few minutes before getting up again. All of a sudden you just get up and stop what you are doing and seem to be straining to urinate or have a bowel movement, but you will most likely feel that your uterine contractions are stronger than ever. You will see a thick mucus discharge from your vulva, soon followed by the water sac. Uterine muscle contractions are responsible for the birthing process, as well as the severity itself. Muscle contractions come and go once every 5 to 10 seconds, especially when you are in the second stage of labor, which involves pushing your calf out.

Shortly after the water sac appears, you should be able to see the feet sticking out. The feet will have yellowish tips, which is perfectly normal for a calf to deliver. They must have the bottom pointing down, which indicates that the calf goes to the front first, which is the Right way for a calf to be born. You should also see that both of them feet are coming out; If there is only one, you may want to consider helping the cow as soon as possible. Shortly after the front legs and the first part of the legs are seen, the nose, muzzle and head soon follow, followed by the shoulders. After the shoulders, the rest comes out easily. However, problems can still arise at this point if the calf’s hips lock into the cow’s pelvis. If your hips don’t lock, before you know it, you’ll have a new calf on the ground. Congratulations !!

What should I do to prepare for delivery?

Now that you have an idea of ​​how a cow gives birth, it is time for you to know what should and should not be done in preparation before, during and after a cow’s calves.

It really all depends on the breed of your cows and the time of year when they will give birth. If you have cows calving during the winter months, where snow and cold are common, you will need some kind of shelter in the form of a calving barn and a shed or two; more if you have more than 10 head of cattle. calving cows: to provide a place for newborn calves to go to keep warm. A thick bed of straw will help immensely here as well. With that, you will need to buy enough straw bales to last the calving season, if not the entire winter period. A farrowing barn is ideal because it not only takes your cows and unborn or newborn calves out of the cold, but also you, especially if you have to help a cow in calving.

If you are not going to give birth in the middle of winter, but in the warmer months, you will not need the straw, but you will need a shelter, natural or otherwise, for the cows to hide and give birth in privacy and peace, and to get out of the blazing sun. Ideally, clean pasture should also be considered for calving, and later pasture to rotate and separate pregnant cows from new mothers, their babies, or to place new mates on fresh pasture.

Keep your large animal vet’s phone number on speed dial if you have a problem that you can’t fix yourself. Keep a birthing kit available for emergencies. Your vet can give you a list of supplies to buy for your birthing kit, but they should include the following:

• Birthing chains with handles
• Shoulder-length obstetric gloves
• Disposable latex gloves that adapt to your hands.
• A bottle of oxytocin
• A calf puller, the winch is the best (although use it with caution)
• Birthing lubricant / artificial insemination
• Variable volume syringes
• 14 to 18 gauge needles 1 to 2 inches long.
• Halter and lead rope
• 20 foot length of rope, either a loop or softer nylon / cotton rope

You will find that a front door, medina door, or birthing facility can help tremendously if you have a cow that is having trouble giving birth. Note that this list is only for those cases where one cow is definitely having trouble calving, it should not be used on all cows all the time.

What should I do if my cow is giving birth?

The simple answer to this question is any. Let the cow do her thing and only interfere if she has not made progress in her work efforts after a couple of hours. This is very important and crucial if you have beef cows that are naturally inclined to give birth on their own without human assistance. Not so much for many dairy cows, however if you’ve put the right bull in it, you shouldn’t have a problem either.

When you jump in to help it should be when she is trying to get her calf out and not making any progress. If you have no idea what to do, call your vet as soon as possible. Don’t be embarrassed to get your vet out of bed, because your animal’s life and health is more important than your or your vet’s sleep! The life and death decision can then be made on how to get the calf out as quickly and efficiently as possible to preferably save both mother and baby.

Problems arising from childbirth range from head back, leg back to delivery with rupture (tail first). The calf may also be too large to fit through the birth canal. If that happens, a surgical method called a caesarean section is done to get the calf out quickly and save the cow (or heifer) as well.

If everything goes normally, then there is nothing to worry about. Many times it is best not to interfere and to let the cow do what it was made to do, from the start of labor until the time you are raising the calf.