First calf heifer worries.

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reno1014

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Joined
Nov 26, 2007
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166
We have a heifer that I bred to Wells Fargo and she is due on October 10th.  She was fat when she bred, and the vet told me to cut her feed so that
we would have less problems with calving.  Here is the deal...my son and I are going to State Fair in Dallas from Sept 30th- Oct. 4th.  I know that
no one can pinpoint an exact time of calving, should I take my heifer breeder up on his offer to "baby sit" her at his ranch, or should I let my sister
watch her while I am gone?  I dont know with AI ing, and with a first calf heifer what to expect.  Any advice?  (My sister is a nurse, and we grew up on
a dairy farm, but she is 55 now and a little small to be pulling club calves.)  Will the calf come early or late?
 

DL

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Joined
Jan 29, 2007
Messages
3,622
reno1014 said:
We have a heifer that I bred to Wells Fargo and she is due on October 10th.  She was fat when she bred, and the vet told me to cut her feed so that
we would have less problems with calving.  Here is the deal...my son and I are going to State Fair in Dallas from Sept 30th- Oct. 4th.  I know that
no one can pinpoint an exact time of calving, should I take my heifer breeder up on his offer to "baby sit" her at his ranch, or should I let my sister
watch her while I am gone?  I dont know with AI ing, and with a first calf heifer what to expect.  Any advice?  (My sister is a nurse, and we grew up on
a dairy farm, but she is 55 now and a little small to be pulling club calves.)  Will the calf come early or late?

Absolutely - take the heifer breeder up on his offer to "heifer sit"  -
 

chambero

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Joined
Feb 12, 2007
Messages
3,207
Location
Texas
You can't leave them by theirselves.  We don't show this time of year (or leave town for anything else) because our whole cow herd is calving, including heifers.  You are close enough to your due date she shouldn't be left.  Get somebody to babysit.
 

reno1014

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Joined
Nov 26, 2007
Messages
166
How often do yall check them...Every three hours, two hours? And is yalls opinion do they usually come early or late? 
 

showsteerdlux

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Nov 30, 2007
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1,765
Location
Western NC
With a heifer you never know, they could come early they could be late. I would say checking every 2-3 hrs would do. If it were me I wouldn't think twice about taking her to the breeders if there was an offer. Just remember that your success is his success so that always helps.
 

chambero

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Feb 12, 2007
Messages
3,207
Location
Texas
We don't check that often.  For example, we are calving out 55 first calf heifers this fall.  I'll check them at daylight as I head to work, my father-in-law will check them around lunch time after he makes his other cattle rounds, I'll check them when I get home around 7, and again right before I go to bed.

In my opinion, if you catch one within a few hours of having started labor, you won't have any problems.  Our rule of thumb is we need to see progress every hour.  If I catch one that looks like she's just started labor, I leave her alone for about an hour or two hours.  If no progress by then we assist.  If we find one that already has feet sticking out, we help her if she hasn't had it within an hour.  Mostly because we just want to get done and not have to wait around.

If one starts to calve in the middle of the night, she'll still be fine if you don't find her till morning.
 

kanshow

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Joined
May 24, 2007
Messages
2,660
Location
Kansas
Absolutely let the breeder 'heifer sit'. 

As far as how often do we check them..  well no set time but when our heifers start calving, we keep them in a pen close by because someone is always around.. Everytime you go by, you look. 
 
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