Calving Pen (Maternity Pen)

[Clark Club Calves]

I was wondering if any of you have a preference in Calving Pens.  Pros and cons of each and if you have one what would you change.  We hope that we don't have to use the pen but sometimes it can't be helped.  Right now we just tie them in our barn in a pen but they can get to swinging a lot it would be nice to have a head gate and a bit more confinement.  Also safety is important it is generally a one man operation around here.  Also I wish every calf would get up and suck on its own but some need help and having an old cow wont stand still to let the calf suck is a pain having the pen with the flip up side panels I think would help a lot .   I was looking at two different styles the center catch square and the circle pen.

What are your experiences with them?

 

[justintime]

I have a Morand calving pen, and I like it quite well. I checked out several before I purchased it and most everyone I asked recommended it over several others. The only thing I wish was a bit different was how the chains that tie the moveable side to the frame ( behind the cow) could be located where it is easier to use... but that would not be too hard to fix.  I use mine for many other uses other than calving cows. I use it to running cattle in that I want to halter, and it is great to calm cattle down. I run them in and do up the sides, then open the top parts of the sides and I have access to most of their body. Scratching and combing them gets them used to you and they seem to relax more when they are tied up for the first time. I usually halter them and comb them two or three times, then tie them up and it seems that over half the work to halter breaking is done. I also have used it for running bulls and cows in for collecting blood or semen testing if they are close to the barn. On larger groups I use the chute system.
The Morand calvbing pen is very heavily built and it will still be in use many years after I am dead, I'm sure. I expect it will sell for as much or more than it cost me when I am done with it.

 

[jbzdad]

I have the sioux and have used the fire out of it... it is good for working calves also for vaccinating etc... one thing  I really don't like about the sioux is the swing gate is about 18 inches too short... both  your pen and the morand have a longer swing gate and i think that is good... one thing to think about is are you going to halter the cow and then let her lie down or try to pull the calf with the cow  standing... if you are going to pull it with the cow standing you will need to do something to keep her from going down


really consider the pens with the longer swing gate

 

[CAB]

Link to a thread that I started last spring that I thought had some great input. If it weren't for the shipping costs, I would have had a Hi-Hog pen, but instead settled for a Sioux and everyone that knows me and has been around me and the pen says that we should have had it decades ago. Makes everything so much more relaxing, but takes away some challenging moments. I have in years past bred many heifers in one and if I had my choice, it would be what I would breed in rather than a chute. I've never used a breeding box, I've heard many times about how nice that is!!

http://www.steerplanet.com/bb/index.php?topic=16155.0

 

[MCC]

I don't know if this will help because I have never used one of these. But you said you have a barn you have been calving in. Years ago I was on my own calving heifers. I, like you, got tired of putting them in a small pen, roping them, snubbing them to the fence and then putting a halter on them and tying them to the fence. By then I was so tired I didn't even want to pull a calf. What I did was build a self catching head gate ( or you could buy one ) mounted it to two poles in the barn. Then off the poles I mounted swinging gates. Then I got two pieces of pipe and buried them in the ground and slid smaller pipe inside of them to latch the back end of the gates to and when you catch the cow in the headgate and get the chains on you can open a gate pull the post out so nothing is going to hit your puller if she goes down. Make some swinging panels to make an alley on the back end of the chute and you can pretty much pull one by yourself. I don't know what a calving pen costs but I think you could probably make one of these cheaper.

 

[CAB]

I think that one of the huge advantages of the middle catch is that your cow can go down either direction easier and not get a person into unnecessary troubles.

 

[oakbar]

I also made my own calving chute using an old self catch headgate I had and two 8' heavy pipe gates attached on either side of the headgate.  I made a raised area that comes back about 3 feet from the front of the chute and use square tubing as removable posts on either side.  I took the front off an 8' X 12' horse stall we had and that give me the ability to swing both gates out to a width of 8' feet at the back of the pen.  We also have a 10' alley behind the chute so we have plenty of room to work behind the cow once she is in the chute.  I'm usually by myself if one of the cows needs an assist so I'm very thankful to have it.  I also attached a pulley to the top/side of the stall so I can use a short rope to hang the calf up by his hind legs to help get any fluid out of the lungs, etc.

 

[Top Knot]

 I also attached a pulley to the top/side of the stall so I can use a short rope to hang the calf up by his hind legs to help get any fluid out of the lungs, etc.

I used to do this myself until last year my vet told me it is no longer an accepted practice. 1) Hanging the calf puts pressure on the diaphragm from the intestines, making it harder to get that first breath. 2) The fluid coming out of the mouth is probably amniotic fluid that was swallowed by the calf and is now coming out of the stomach. When the calf starts breathing, there's a chance that fluid will be inhaled into the lungs, just what we were trying to remedy. Best advice is to let the calf lay and just use a straw up the nose to get it breathing right away.