About to calve

[victorfirst]

Hi Folks

Cows hopefully calving in next few weeks . Any suggestions other than keeping close eye on them.

Also what do i do to register them?

Is it worth registering bull calves or better castrating straight away

New to all this as just starting up, any advice most welcome

[SteveM]

Seven born so far this year since late february. All un-aided and unseen. One found at 3am thursday stood in the yard having rolled under the gate, mum hadnt realised he was missing as unconcerned till i picked the calf up to put back in the pen.

[Rob R]

Unless you have a guaranteed market for your bull calves, castrate them, they'll be worth more as steers than bulls & be a lot less trouble with your heifer calves. Most people who keep Dexters prefer steers as they can mix youngstock & breeding stock rather than keeping lots of smaller groups. We prefer steers as it means we can graze heifers, either feeding or breeding stock, with them.

They must be birth notified with the society and registered within BCMS by four weeks of age, otherwise they'll need to be DNA tested to get a passport if they go over age. You can choose to register a previously birth notified animal but it costs moreif it's 31 days of later from birth.

[Louisa Gidney]

Have you a friendly farmer who can help/advise? I've had an old cow with 12 successful calvings to her credit have a near disaster with no 13. She started calving in the morning but I had to go out all day. Wasn't worried as she's such an experienced mum. Turned up in the evening to coo over new arrival, to find there wasn't one. Head jambed tight and swollen. Farmer friend, big strong chap, couldn't shift it and had to use a calving jack, first time ever in my herd. Still, he got the calf out alive but thought the prognosis was poor. Cow and I thought differently and he's thriving.

[Rob R]

I'll never forget the huge calf in a heifer that I just couldn't shift - the calf was dead but well & trully stuck, I was dragging the heifer along the ground when I tried! I called my brother before calling the vet and he went up to her, one tug and the calf came out just like that - he wondered what the fuss was about. The heifer recovered and has become a good cow but she was walking funny for a good few weeks after that.

[nuttalls]

after watching and waiting 3 weeks Oh my, we,ve just had a 3rd time calver one leg and head out, sent for back up, calving aid, experience lots of it, but no he was well and truly jammed alive at this point i could get my arm down side but the leg was jammed,chris tried but the same , called vet to which she arrived , the calf had just died had a quick look and decided there wasnt much room bit too late by then,she said we had options none of them good, the head was so swelled it wouldnt go back so cheesewire it was, she had just done 2 c sections so was tired so cris had to do it alovely bull calf of a very good cow and bull, all the others hadnt seen this before but for me years ago, although it was a bit sad the cow took no harm after a good rest and being spoilt so all not lost, just jean pee,d off But hey her last calf was a non short polled bull who,s my little mate and going to register,show and use him next year, ps not started lambing yet

[Duncan MacIntyre]

I hope Victor is not getting too scared by all these tales. most calvings go well with no human interference. I think Louisa's idea of a local mentor, be it knowledgeable neighbour, farmer, vet or whatever that you can speak to face to face is good if you really are totally new to all this. There is more than can really be put in a few posts on a discussion board. DCS had until a few weeks ago a network of Field Advisors, but they have just been stood down and as far as I know nothing put in their place. PM me on this board if you want some more coaching on the details of calvings.

Meanwhile have you registered with BCMS online, to register births movements and deaths of cattle? Go to https://secure.services.defra.gov.uk/wps/portal/ctso They have a telephone helpline 0845 050 1234 open during office hours. They are usually very patient and helpful, more so than any other government department I have to deal with.

Make sure you are registered with the Dexter Cattle Society too, links from this site main page.

Duncan

[victorfirst]

Thanks folks for feedback so far . I have lambed sheep before, but this is my first toe in the water when it comes to cattle.Some times with the lambs you could not go wrong the following week nothing goes right. Hopefully it will be a lucky week>

I am now seeing the cows bag start to fill out,should i be feeding a bit now and how far might she be off calving. Any opinions greatly valued

[Rob R]

I hope Victor is not getting too scared by all these tales.
Duncan

Yes, sorry, I must add that I rarely see calvings and I could count on one hand the number I had any kind of problems with in the first 15 years of Dexter keeping.

[Louisa Gidney]

I would also add, get the cows used to having udders handled, in case you need to help the calf find the teat. I've had one calve this morning that I remembered was a problem last year because she wasn't used to being haltered. I've been working on that but had forgotten about udder handling. I feel some interesting bruises coming on!