4 days overdue.... What should I due?

[tadpole]

I have a first calf heifer that is now four days overdue.  I was wondering how long you guys usually let yours go over before you induce.  I no some people have mixed ideas about inducing but I dont want the calf to get any bigger and her have trouble having it.  And also what do you guys give them to induse.  I have a dairy friend that always gives them lutalyse and a shot that starts with a d... I cant think of the name right now. But any thoughts on what I should do would be greatly appreciated! 

 

[eskie]

Do her teets looked tite and filled out? I don't let our heifers go past 5 days. Is the bull good on birth weights  that's the big one for us  Good Luck Hope everything is OK

 

[tadpole]

One side of her udder looks like it could expolde but the other side looks like she is a long way off. So I dont not if she is going to be light on those two quarters or what.  She was AI"ed to Nighty Night.  He is suppost to be a heifer bull but havent had any out of him yet.

 

[GLZ]

I would not panic over four days yet.  Just keep a close eye on her.  How many days were you using to determine she is late?  (283?)  What is the breeding of the heifer?

 

[CAB]

  I personally wouldn't pull the panic button yet, but to each their own on that . 5/6ml lute plus 20/25mls of Dexamethezone will get her going. You are absolutely sure about the due date, right? Your comment about her bag kinda put a ? mark in my mind. Good Luck, Brent

 

[red]

I know this isn't the most popular thing but we induce if they go over by 3 days. Our reasons are that we only AI &  our cows tend to have really big calves. We learned the lesson when we had a show heifer go 13 days past. She had been fed well since she was a show heifer & had shown through November. Her first calf was 136#. Tore a hole in her vagina. she's fine now but we induce her.

Red

 

[greenbean]

I would not panic over four days yet.  Just keep a close eye on her.  How many days were you using to determine she is late?  (283?)  What is the breeding of the heifer?

It's my brother's heifer,but she is a taz and I can't remember the cow she is out of. As far as the gestation table goes, I'm not really sure... when he bought her the guy just said she would be due on the 6th of Feb.  We thought she would calve last Saturday but no such luck and I'm back at school now.  Maybe we just get to antsy sometimes  (lol)

 

[GLZ]

It is easy to get antsy, and certainly justified.  I am a nervous wreck when I have heifers calving.

For some reason, myself included we sometimes recognize gestation length as a constant.  There are a lot of variables that go into it.  Do a google search on gestation length of a cow.  You will see anything from 280 to 285.  That is quite a bit of room one way or the other.

If you are really nervous about it give the guy a call, and ask him to check his records.  Ask him how many day gestation table he used.  I am sure he would gladly provide you the information.

I would not panic over four days yet.  Just keep a close eye on her.  How many days were you using to determine she is late?  (283?)  What is the breeding of the heifer?

It's my brother's heifer,but she is a taz and I can't remember the cow she is out of. As far as the gestation table goes, I'm not really sure... when he bought her the guy just said she would be due on the 6th of Feb.  We thought she would calve last Saturday but no such luck and I'm back at school now.  Maybe we just get to antsy sometimes  (lol)

 

[tadpole]

She is a taz X chillfactor. She was bred the 29th of April last year putting her due the 6th of Feb.  She was not with a clean up bull and only AI'ed once.  Talked to my dairy friend this morning on my way to school and said with her udder like that to check her for mastitus tonight and if she does have it to induce her before she spikes a fever.  He said that she might have mastitus cause she always lays on her left side and her right quarters a swelled like that.  He know his stuff when it comes to this stuff so i will check her tonight and let ya guys know.  Im suppost to be doin a chemistry project right now haha..

 

[tadpole]

I stripped out her udder tonight after school and she does not have mastitus, but she didnt have any milk so im going to get ahold of the guy tonight and see if he made a mistake on the breeding date or if there is any chance she was exposed to a clean up bull.  My dairy friend also told me to induce her late late thursday night if the breeding date is right and if she hasnt calved that way she will calve on saturday morning when I dont have school.

 

[Show Heifer]

Tadpole: Take a big breath and RELAX. Mother Nature is not to be messed with!!! I know it is hard, as mine are not due till the 28th and I am already a bundle of axietity!!
But trust me, all will be fine..... and if the suspense is killing you, before she calves she will want a yellow poka dotted towel with pink AND blue stripes around each dot. Go out and find this towel and when you return, wipe the calf with it!! (Translation: If you leave her alone, although keeping a close eye, she will be fine. Just leave her be with mother nature!!)

ANother very unpopular opinion: If you are worried about 4-10 days late due to birth weight, you bred her to the wrong bull, or kept a heifer you shouldn't have. Well, at least that is the way I see it!!

 

[OH Breeder]

was she an ex show heifer. My only concern with show heifers is we tend to over condition them early on. Keep us posted.

 

[xxcc]

good Lord.  i agree with Show Heifer.  she hasn't calved because you've been messing with her too much.  how much did you "strip" out of he udder.  that first colostrum is the most important to a new baby calf's immune system.  quit messing with her.  a watched pot never boils.  crymany sakes, chill factor is by Cunia.  i target all my fullbloods at 295 gestation.  besides that, worrying about how big the calf is going to get is a little too late, the bone is already there.  a couple pounds spread over that whole body isn't much.  what I would do is give her some grain or what ever makes her content, and like mentioned above...watch her like Wilson on Home Improvement...or maybe not even that close.  get a pair of Zwarovski's and go down to the neighbors and watch her from there.  two seconds after you drive out of the driveway, she'll be down to calve.

now, if she starts calving...LEAVE HER BE for about 20-25 minutes.  like, go to the house, make an eartag or something.  if she hasn't calved when you go back out, see if feet are showing.  if they are give her 15-20 more minutes, it maytake her up to 10 to settle back down.  if she hasn't calved yet, call your vet or someone that knows how to assist you.

Do you have chains and a calf puller?  or even just a handle?

 

[Steer Boy 101]

We have had alotta late calves. we thinks its because of the weather its been really cold then warm then cold and not its 60 so the cows are a little bit uncomortable. we usually induce 5-7 days after due date. We give em more that that usualyl. But on some this  year they have somee big birth weight bulls bred to em so thats why we got a little worried. We never induced one last year or the year before but a few years ago we used this bull that went 2 weekds over and calf was nuts, never again we induced everyone of those cows 5-7 days depending on how close they actualy looked. but MAKE SURE YOUR DATE IS CORRECT is the main thing. thats my 2 cents hope it helps but also what some other guys said, dont strip her out thats the good stuff, at least untill calf is out to worry about mastitis. we have had some heifers that we thought had that but the vet said sometimes heifers just get some inflamation in there and just need time and a calf to suck it out couple times a day. the next year you cant remember which one had that problem.

 

[greenbean]

good Lord.  i agree with Show Heifer.  she hasn't calved because you've been messing with her too much.  how much did you "strip" out of he udder.  that first colostrum is the most important to a new baby calf's immune system.  quit messing with her.  a watched pot never boils.  crymany sakes, chill factor is by Cunia.  i target all my fullbloods at 295 gestation.  besides that, worrying about how big the calf is going to get is a little too late, the bone is already there.  a couple pounds spread over that whole body isn't much.  what I would do is give her some grain or what ever makes her content, and like mentioned above...watch her like Wilson on Home Improvement...or maybe not even that close.  get a pair of Zwarovski's and go down to the neighbors and watch her from there.  two seconds after you drive out of the driveway, she'll be down to calve.

now, if she starts calving...LEAVE HER BE for about 20-25 minutes.  like, go to the house, make an eartag or something.  if she hasn't calved when you go back out, see if feet are showing.  if they are give her 15-20 more minutes, it maytake her up to 10 to settle back down.  if she hasn't calved yet, call your vet or someone that knows how to assist you.

Do you have chains and a calf puller?  or even just a handle?

He stripped just enough to make sure that there wasn't any mastitus.  Wish we had pictures to post of what her udder looks like because it is kinda weird looking and just want to be sure that we don't have any problems.  Like I said before we get a little antsy at times which by the sounds of it a lot of people do.  We are new to the club calf thing but not to calving.  I think we are more antsy because we have a lot of money wrapped up in these things and want to make sure we get a live calf on the ground with a cow that is going to rebreed... Yes we have a calf jack, chains, handles, calving pen so we have all the facilities to handle this stuff just anxious.  Bought a herd bull when we were younger and he was suppose to be calving ease, I don't think we had a calf under 100 pounds, so that is what makes us more anxious with heifers, never wanna go through that again.  

 

[tadpole]

No she is not an ex show heifer.  XXCC... This isnt my first rodeo man. I was just asking for some advice.  I had never had problems with cows going over due this much that is why Im a little ansy.  I no what to do when calves come and how long to give them and everything like that.  Yeah sometimes we may be a little ansy but ya know what last year we a 100% calf crop out of 37 cows.  I thought that was pretty good my self.  And like greenbean said we have a lot of money wrapped up in these things and cant afford to lose a calf.  I didnt strip any of the good stuff out of her cause she doesnt have any! I stripped it out a little to see what she had in it.  I know what im doing, I was just simply asking a question about inducing.  I am also worried about this heifer because she was running a temp when I put her in today to mess with her for a little bit.  So thank you to those that have helped me answer my question about inducing.

 

[kfacres]

we don't induce.. never know when the acctual breeding date could be....  had heifers calve that weren't even exposed, or AI'd... never can mess with mother nature...  One time a friend was so over joyed with inducing them, induced her to early, wasn't supposed to calve for another cycle, ended up with a dead calf, preme...  hate for that to happen

give lut and Dex for induction..

o and if she doesn't have milk, then she most likely won't calve for another cycle... usually get milk bout week before calving..

 

[red]

ANother very unpopular opinion: If you are worried about 4-10 days late due to birth weight, you bred her to the wrong bull, or kept a heifer you shouldn't have. Well, at least that is the way I see it!!

My thoughts on big BW's are- if the cow can calve unassisted I have no issues.

Red

 

[amymeys]

Keep us posted!  Curious to know if you had to induce or she went on her own.  Good Luck!

 

[tadpole]

For everyone that wanted updates.... She still has not calved.  Her udder seemed to be evening out when I looked at her today after school.  She probably wont calve tonight either.  Im waiting for her and a Paddy O Malley bred to Total Solution(Due tomorrow) to calve.  So just keep waiting I guess...