Cow calving, or “calving” as it is primarily known, can be an anxious and highly anticipated time for any farm or ranch, large or small, especially one where calving season is defined, or if you have a herd little. from one to five cows under her care. One thing that needs to be emphasized when it comes to calving cows is to be patient. Waiting for a cow or heifer to give birth is like waiting for her to boil water in a pot.
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 grows into a calf fetus, the living being inside the womb of the cow it is constantly growing and developing until it reaches a point where it can no longer grow because the womb of the cow can only stretch so far. It is at this point that the calving of the cow begins. Little or many know that it is actually the offspring inside the mother’s womb that is responsible for initiating the onset of labor, not the mother herself. Calf stress signals travel through the umbilical cord to the placenta to the cow’s brain and ovaries, where different chemicals and hormones are released to prepare her for calf birth, from release of the cervical plug to delivery initial uterus. contractions to bring the calf into the normal position for calving. The early stages of labor occur in a cow hours before the actual event of calving occurs. This is where she should watch for signs that labor is imminent.
What are the signs to look for in a cow or heifer about to calve?
Initially, your udder may begin to fill with colostrum, the first milk for a calf, but the teats may not become engorged until birth is imminent. Your vulva will also fill with blood, making it look a bit swollen, your sides will dip in front of your buttocks (this is the smooth part of your pelvis), and there may be some mucus coming out of your vulva. She will get nervous and start looking for a place to give birth. When her udder is full, she is 3-7 days away from calving. However, some cows or heifers will not show any calving until the day they are about to calve; still others can have a full bag for weeks before dropping a calf. When her sides cave in, she is 1-3 days from calving. When there is discharge from her vulva that is clear, non-sticky, and stringy, she is usually less than a day away from calving. However, if the discharge is stickier and thicker, this is just the mucus plug being passed, which is about a week before delivery. When you see that bag of water, which is a yellowish bag hanging from her vulva, it’s pretty obvious she’s in labor and it’s only a matter of minutes before the calf’s legs and head start to show.
The annoying thing about heifers is that you never know when they are going to “explode”. She could be showing all the signs that she’s about to drop a calf and do nothing for two or three weeks straight! Or it would be exactly the opposite: she will show absolutely no signs, but suddenly there is a calf on the ground that is making it clear that it is hers. Many cows can be the same way, so it’s always best to be prepared for the unexpected.
How does a cow give birth anyway?
As mentioned above, the initial signs are that he is pacing and is quite restless. Many cows will wander away from the herd and find a private place to calve in peace. She will act quite awkward, lying down and then getting up, then lying down again after a few minutes before getting up again. Suddenly, you just get up and stop what you’re doing and seem to be straining to urinate or have a bowel movement, but more than likely you’ll feel your uterine contractions stronger than ever. He will see a thick discharge of mucus from your vulva, soon followed by the sac of water. Uterine muscle contractions are responsible for the birthing process as well as gravity itself. Muscle contractions come and go once every 5 to 10 seconds, especially when you are in the second stage of labor, which involves expelling the calf.
Shortly after the bag of water appears, you should be able to see the feet sticking out. The feet will have yellowish tips, which is totally normal for a calf giving birth. They must have the funds pointing downindicating that the calf comes to the front first, which is the Right way for a calf to be born. you should see that too both feet come out; if there is only one, you may want to consider helping the cow as soon as possible. Shortly after the forelegs and the first part of the legs are shown, the nose, snout, and head follow, followed by the shoulders. After the shoulders, the rest comes off easily. However, problems can still arise at this point if the calf’s hips get caught in the cow’s pelvis. If the 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 childbirth?
Now that you have an idea of how a cow gives birth, it’s time for you to learn the do’s and don’ts of preparing for before, during and after a cow gives birth.
It really all depends on what breed your cows are and what time of year they are calving. If you have cows that calve during the winter months, where snow and cold are common, you will need some form of shelter in the form of a calving barn and a shed or two, more if you have more than 10 head. calving cows—to provide a place for newborn calves to go to keep warm. A thick bed of straw will also help immensely here. With that, you’ll need to buy enough straw bales for the calving season, if not the entire winter period. A calving barn is ideal because it not only gets cows and unborn or newborn calves out of the cold, but also you, especially if you have to help a calving cow.
If you are calving not in the dead of winter, but in the warmer months, you will not need the straw, but you will need some shelter, natural or otherwise, for the cows to hide and calve in privacy and peace, and to get out from the hot sun. Ideally, a clean pasture should also be considered for them to calve, and subsequent pastures to rotate and separate pregnant cows from new mothers and their babies, or to place new pairs on a fresh pasture.
Keep your large animal veterinarian’s phone number on speed dial if you have a problem 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 it should include the following:
- Birthing chains with handles
- Shoulder length obstetric gloves
- Disposable latex gloves that fit your hands
- A bottle of oxytocin
- A winch is best for pulling out calves (however, use with caution)
- Labor/Artificial Insemination Lubricant
- Variable volume syringes
- Needles ranging from 14 to 18 gauge and length from 1 to 2 inches long.
- Halter and lead rope
- 20 foot length of rope, either a lasso or a softer nylon/cotton rope
You will find that a front gate, medina gate or calving facility can be a great help if you have a cow that is having trouble calving. Note that this list is only for those cases where a cow is definitely having calving problems, it should not be used on all cows all the time.
What should I do if my cow is calving?
The simple answer to this question is any. Let the cow do her thing and only interfere if she hasn’t made any progress in her plowing efforts after a couple of hours. This is very important and crucial if you have beef cows that naturally tend to calve on their own without human assistance. Not so much for many dairy cows, however if you’ve put the right bull in her you shouldn’t have a problem either.
When you jump to help it should be when she is trying to get the calf out of her and she is not making any progress. If you have no idea what to do, call your vet as soon as possible. Don’t be ashamed to get your vet out of bed, because the life and health of your animal is more important than your sleep or that of your vet!! Then the life and death decision can 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 birth range from head back, one leg back to gapped birth (tail first). The calf may also be too large to pass through the birth canal. If that happens, a surgical method called a cesarean section is performed to deliver the calf quickly and save the cow (or heifer) as well.
If everything goes normally, then there is nothing to worry about. Many times it is better not to interfere and let the cow do what she was created to do, from the start of labor to the time she is raising the calf.