Cow Going Over Due Date Question ? ?

[clubcalve]

I have a 11 year old Angus cow bred to Johnny Walker Red. She was due March 31 but has not yet calved. I am 100% sure of her due date because we dont own any bulls lol. I was wondering what you would do if she was yours. Thanks
                                                              Silent Hollow Farm

 

[Warrior10]

Give her time. Not uncommon for them the go days or even a week over, especially with an older cow.

 

[OH Breeder]

sent you a PM.......

 

[grs]

If your 100% sure that she can only calve to that date i would wait until the 5th or 6th day then if she hasn't calved then induce her.
I also had a cow go 6 days past her due date and she was breed to asset so i did induce her and she calved the next day and everything is fine. <rock>

 

[KSanburg]

Had an 8 year old go 18 days overdue this year and she was fine but the calf was XXXL. It has been a very odd year as we have had cows 12 days early and 18 days over, I have never had that much variation before. A week one way or the other is not unusual but 2 and 3 weeks are somewhat different. And it is not just my herd several of the ranches around here have had a lot of early and overdues.

 

[HF CHARS]

Have had several et calves come 14 to 20 days late this year,gonna make it hard to market those way overdue bull calves that weighed 120,, its crazy cuz the full subs that calves on time weighed mid 90 range

 

[sizzler14]

I was always told, you have roughly 10 days prior to the due date and 10 days after the due date for them to calve. if your having a calf go 20 days over, Id check to make sure it couldnt be out of another bull because thats another a heat cycle. if your sure then you always have freaky things like that. but dont be alarmed by a cow going over her due date.

 

[sizzler14]

sorry misread that they were et calves. wow thats crazy. ive had a few go 12 days over but never 20!!!! wow!

 

[CAB]

I would not be too worried yet. I have had them come 17 days early & 17 days late. The best thing about your situation is that JWR is not known for being a hard calver.

 

[vet tech]

If a cow goes 4 days over for me I induce her, have a calf within 36 hours. The last few weeks before calving that calf can gain 3 pounds a day. Just keep that in mind especially with clubby bred babies inside. Just what I would do though lol

 

[OH Breeder]

Many of the breech births( my vet said) are related to calves that are overdue. Many of the articles I reviewed relate Dystocia to being over due date as one of the many contributing factors. They run out of room. I lost a beautiful blue roan heifer out of a 14 year old cow Friday night. The legs were folded forwarded and we cold not get them loose because the calf was 14 days overdue and LARGE. Agree or not it sucks to loose one. As my vet said, it NEVER hurts to check them.

 

[clubcalve]

Well, still no calf today. Will probably check her tomorow morning and make sure there is no problem. The only reason I am 100% of her due date is that we have no bulls and neither do the neihbors. I will keep you all posted.

 

[JTM]

Years ago I use to get anxious and think about inducing after about 6 or 7 days. Now I let them go until they calve on their own. It's all genetic and I want to know the actual performance of my cows.  I  had a lot of cows about 3-4 years ago go over 14 plus days because of that. A lot of those calves were large and breach. I have culled the cows and quit using the bulls.
It all depends on what your personal strategy is. Are you raising breeding cattle or club calves. If they are club calves then I would suggest you have a vet palpate the cow at about day 7 to make sure the calf isn't breach or too big, then see if they will induce the cow.
FYI, I just had a Shorthorn cow calve today that was 7 days over due. She had a heifer unassisted and it was 96 lbs. It was her second calf.

 

[clubcalve]

SHE CALVED!! This morning at about 2:30 A.M. 85 pound bull calf and unassissted  (clapping). Good feeling to be done with calving lol