Dexter Cattle For Sale Discussion Board

Apologies for the length of this OP but the more information people have the better they will be able to advise us.

Our herd has increased and we now have three Woodmagic's and Laymore Bracken in calf to Stephanie's bull, Woodmagic Hedgehog 4th.

Our first calving is a little over 4-6 weeks away. All appears to be well and she looks in good condition. They are all getting about 1lb of suckler cow rolls per day and we have just started to feed them some haylage as the grass is getting a bit thin. We are very wary about them being too fat so perhaps tend to keep them a little tight on the feed. If they don't clean up all the haylage we will put out proportionately less to avoid waste and also to avoid them getting overweight.

The plan at the moment (and this may change obviously) is to bring her into the stables so that she calves inside. As it is the first time we will have calved we felt that should intervention be required it is easier to do so in a stable than in the far corner of a field. The stables are american barn style so are high ceilings and airy with a wide central corridor and all the boxes are the larger 12 x 12 size or bigger. We plan to straw up the box (which has had no stock in it for over a year), bring them all into the stable yard then separate her into the box and turn the rest back out. Once she has calved and all is well - (perhaps after a week?) - we will move her to a smaller barn where we put the Dexters when they arrive which is about 20' x 20'. This is the barn we use to acclimatise them to us and get them used to us feeding them.

We will be advising the vet of the calving date so that they are aware.

So, we have the following questions:-

1) what do we need to look out for in terms of problems?

2) what calving related equipment should we have to hand (we currently have Alamycin LA and Closmectin on site with syringes and needles but that is all in the way of veterinary medicines).

3) is the plan above about right?

4) Do we need to pair them up so she has some company or will she be happy enough on her own?

5) Delivery day is the 13th Feb. How close to this date would people bring her in? I suspect the answer to this is that it depends on how she looks!

5) We have another one due on the 1st March so it is likely that they will both end up in the cow barn together. Do you think that this will be an issue?

6) We have a 5 month old dun bull calf with his dam out with the herd at the moment. She is due to calf on the 14th June. I have a note in my book saying that we should separate him from her a few months before she calves so would plan on doing so about mid April when he will be 9 months. Is this right? He has to be ringed by then so, do we get him in, ring him and put him on his own into another field/barn or do we move the ringing forward so that he gets ringed and then goes back to the herd for a bit?

7) Given we have calving dates of 13th Feb, 1st March, 7th May and 14th June what sates would people have the bull out of the field?

Many thanks and apologies for the length and number of questions!

It sounds as though your cattle should not be too fat if they have been on grass all this time. Don't stress your cow, if you bring her in she needs to stay with another herd member not on her own before she calves. When you say ring the bullcalf do you mean castrate or nose ring?
Has you cow calved before, if so she should cope ok and show you how its done on her own. Sods laws usually prevails on owners first calvings, they watch them like a hawk for 2 weeks before then the cow calves when they have gone inside because nothing is happening. Above all don't worry, its all natural and a pedigree birth not a crossbred so you should be ok.

Navel spray for the calf
Calf teat and a bottle that it will fit and a plastic jug in case you want to milk out some colostrum and bottle the calf to help it find the teats if it's a bit slow on the uptake, or it's late/dark & you want to go to bed knowing the calf has had a good feed
Calcium/magnesium and needle/syringe. I've only needed it once in 25 years but when you do need it, it's urgent
Lubricant & disinfectant in case you do need to pull and a clean soft rope eg old halter if need arises. Again once in 25 years but essential when you need it
Very very rarely have problems, normally hear a special "moo" when going in the barn which means there's a new baby arrived safely.

Mark,
Apologies, I meant nose ring.

Hi Tim, You can only judge the condition of your cows by looking at them. Grass can be anything from almost no nutrition through to very powerful stuff (latest rye-grasses etc). If your leys are old, almost certainly the former. Personally, I've never given any feed to any cows coming up to calving but 1lb isn't a lot. Mine might be overweight on what you appear to be feeding.

Some notes I've made for people buying cows off me. A bit jumbled, sorry. They're just my thoughts, others will have different ideas.

If they are taking a long time after the bag appears, there is probably be something wrong. If they haven't calved within 2 hours of the bag showing, I would call the vet or someone who knows how to calve because it is possibly a bad presentation.

If you don't see 2 feet and a nose or tongue, it's a bad presentation, call your vet/friend pronto. But note that sometimes you get one foot and a tongue when they are just starting and then a second foot appears. If forwards but upside down (unlikely), go inside and try a flip the calf around, it's easier than it sounds. Try to do that using the legs not just the head.

When her calf is born be very careful. Your nice little pet may try and kill you. Be extra careful for a few days.  

Some heifers may not take to the calf after all they've been through, so get mom and calf into a pen, pref with some cover from sun/weather, keep them clean and mom should take the calf. Don't delay with this but don't rush it either.

The calf must suckle within 6 hours, if you are not sure, give the calf some man-made colostrum (about 250ml). If in doubt, give the colostrum, it won't hurt and it means you can go to bed.

Alternatively, get the calf to suckle mom if you can. Not always easy!

One of the last signs of a cow coming up to actually calve is (usually but not always) her udder getting big and tight. That usually means they are going to calve within 24-48 hours I would say.

If there is another calf around, they may start to try and mother it thinking it is theirs. Again, this will mean calving is due within, I would say, 24 hours (max).

When born spray umbillical liberally with terramecin (from vet) or dip in iodine. We do former, but not so important out in a clean field but do it if you can. Repeat it 1/2 day later because mom will lick it all off.

Out in the field, we always calve them in groups. The cow/heifer should go off on her own or maybe with one pal.

If outside, then you need to be ready to get her in somewhere. If you haven't got a place/shed, then get a couple of gates and be ready to make up a pen in the corner of the field or shed. Ideally, you will already make this up and also get her used to going into it for food (in an ideal world anyhow!).

I would have a halter ready for her head if you need to tie her up, as well as somewhere in that pen capable of tying the halter to. This is to restrain her for the vet if needed, just best to be ready.

They can calve any time, especially heifers, but my cows more often than not calve in the early hours, presumably to give their newborn calf as many daylight hours a possible, but don't rely on it.

IMPORTANT: If you see the back legs coming out first, then forget the calm and patient bit, get your calving ropes (you need those ready to hand and know how to use them), and get that calf out as quickly as you can before it drowns, because the umbilical (spelling?) will break with the calf’s head still inside. Pull out till you see the hips then down slightly. Clean the calf’s head and get it breathing immediately. Backward calves are not usual but not rare either, say about 1-2% in my herd.

My only advice is get them outside as soon as possible. Outside is cleaner, use terremycine spray, never had any naval problems by outside and spray method!

dont panic plenty of time unless its backwards! Dexters will generally just get on with it, you will only slow it up so leave them to it.

good luck