# Calf - maybe



## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Well here in upstate SC it has been pouring rain for seems like days now, one of my heifers has been showing close to dropping a calf for 4-5 days, dropped her milk and such.. I have been checking on her every afternoon when I get home..

Today about dark in the rain I was sitting in the field with her and all of the sudden she dumped a bucket of water out the rear and promptly walked towards the woods, I wasn't ready and didn't have a light to follow her so I came back to the house and ate a bite of supper..

I was debating if I should go and see if I could find her to check , note it's still pouring rain and it's 8:30pm and I get up for work @3am.. I get the gator and ride around, I found the group and she has stuff hanging out and I can't really tell if she is still a butter ball or not, she didn't look in distress at all and the bull seemed to be protecting her so I didn't push him to get closer to her..

I'm hoping she had the calf and it's laying in the woods somewhere, it wasn't in the area they were that I could find..

I won't be able to check them further till tomorrow afternoon, maybe all is well...


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## Ox76 (Oct 22, 2018)

Oh, the joys of having critters. Some things I didn't mind, other things just sucked. I'm sure you'll find a calf on HER feet following mama around after work.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Well, found it dead, looks like the heifer dropped it and walked away, didn't even clean it...


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## Ox76 (Oct 22, 2018)

Unreal. Some of them just ain't made for it. I don't get it. Sorry for your bad luck.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

SCtrailrider said:


> Well, found it dead, looks like the heifer dropped it and walked away, didn't even clean it...


 I have been in that exact situation before. The next year she was a perfect mother with a live calf. Just too confusing/bewildering for some first timers I suppose.

Regards, Mike


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Well right now I'm so pissed she may be the next one in the freezer, I gave my favorite heifer a 2nd chance but I'm not too sure I'm willing to do that this time.. the one my older heifer lost last year she stood over it for 3 days before I could get to it, and this one just walks away... yea I don't get it...


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

Do you have have the ability to keep them closer when they are about to freshen?

Losing a calf sucks, losing a cow sucks, the worst thing I have found between having a dairy herd and building a herd(having few animals) is losing one is more noticeable. When you have 100's it happens, when you have 1 or in my case 14, its a significant percentage of your herd.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Yes, I can pen them close so I can see them from a window, I have 2 more that aren't quite due yet so I will do that..


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## Ox76 (Oct 22, 2018)

We used to bring em in the end of the barn when they started swelling up in the cooter. The other girls around her would help clean her calf after we dragged it up to the manger. All the cows seem to get along when in this situation - not once did we ever have a problem.

Now, when we missed one occasionally and they dropped out in the pasture it was a whole other story. Made em go kinda wild, more crazy, much harder to deal with. Getting them in the barn or at least in a pen or paddock right close to the barn and people seemed to make a huge difference in everything.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

It is tough to take, a hard pill to swallow. It is not always feasable to separate a cow from the herd when she is due. I like to do this when I can. It keeps a young cow from walking away and offers some protection.
With her not cleaning the calf would raise an eyebrow. Could have been stillborn, could have been abandoned. Either way is tough to handle.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Well I gave it a lot of thought, the wife wants to give her another chance, so worst case is she does it again, at least then she will have more weight and will be a little more in the freezer...

When the other two are close, I will pen the 3 heifers in the corral and leave the bull out, maybe she will learn something...


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