Potential calving problem help

[RankeCattleCo]

My opinion.  If you have a valuable angus heifer ( in future), never breed her to anything but angus (proven low birthweight, high CED epd) bull.  That hybrid vigor adds some lbs at birth.  Not saying there would not potentially be a problem still (there always is especially with heifers), but the odds are stacked more in your favor. 

It's easy to say, hey you should have done this or that, but the main thing is to learn from the mistakes. (as many as I've made, I should be an expert by now) 

Has she always been crazy or just because she was having trouble calving?  Good Luck with what you all decide to do with her.

I don't think she is crazy just isn't used to being handled closely by people. She wasn't halterbroken as a calf because she wasn't going to make something worth showing. She just came back from pasture about 6 months ago and the most people exposure she gets is getting fed twice a day.

You may want to rethink how "good" she is if you originally thought that she wouldn't be anything worth showing. Just a thought.

 

[Top Knot]

Your family did right by calling a vet, although probably should have called after the first hour. You don't want to start hooking on and jacking calves out if you have no experience. You have lost the calf, but an amateur attempt at pulling a calf could have left you with a heifer with a broken pelvis. Utilize your vet a few times and learn from him/her before you attempt it yourself. And if it looks too big or is presented wrong, call the vet anyway. It's costly, but a good education always is. Best wishes for your remaining heifers.

 

[CAB]

My opinion.  If you have a valuable angus heifer ( in future), never breed her to anything but angus (proven low birthweight, high CED epd) bull.  That hybrid vigor adds some lbs at birth.  Not saying there would not potentially be a problem still (there always is especially with heifers), but the odds are stacked more in your favor. 

It's easy to say, hey you should have done this or that, but the main thing is to learn from the mistakes. (as many as I've made, I should be an expert by now) 

Has she always been crazy or just because she was having trouble calving?  Good Luck with what you all decide to do with her.

I don't think she is crazy just isn't used to being handled closely by people. She wasn't halterbroken as a calf because she wasn't going to make something worth showing. She just came back from pasture about 6 months ago and the most people exposure she gets is getting fed twice a day.

You may want to rethink how "good" she is if you originally thought that she wouldn't be anything worth showing. Just a thought.

There wouldn't be very many cows in the country if they all had to come through the show ring to prove themselves worthy lead a productive life. Most cows by a far shot have never been in a show ring. Don't make any rash decisions. Let it settle for a time and you'll get it figured out as to what is best for your heifer and family.

 

[Belties R Us]

They weighed the calf and it was 76 lbs.

 

[GoWyo]

That is a bummer. I wouldn't beat myself up too much.  Things happen.

 

[RyanChandler]

the one time you decide everything is fine and don't check them something will go wrong.

my god, isn't that the truth

 

[firesweepranch]

They weighed the calf and it was 76 lbs.

That is an OK size for a heifer, in my opinion. Pelvic size of the heifer sounds like the issue, not who you bred her to. I like my first calf heifers to have calves in the mid 70's range, but most of ours are half simm half angus or higher simm. We did breed a Pioneer heifer (registered angus) to the simmental bull Beef Maker (calving ease) and got a 45 pound heifer calf born two days late! Way to small for my liking, but she has grown into a fine heifer calf (now 6 months old and probably 550 pounds).
Sorry for your loss. Our first year, we had experience like that also. Only bred heifer we owned, and we ended up having to pull. The calf died a few days later, I am sure from complications of a really hard birth. We had 100% calf crop loss that year (our only calf!). Nothing to brag about, but after the second hard pull on another heifer (a few years later) we bought a calf puller on the advice of several here on this forum. We have used it twice (one breech, one set of twins breech), and have had lots of calves in the past 6 years we have been doing this. Well worth the investment!
Oh, and all of our cattle are halter broke regardless if they make the show string or not. It just makes it much easier to move and sort them when they are halter broke!

 

[OH Breeder]

How was she AI bred? What ever you did to restrain her for AI work you can do the same for when you need to intervene with dystocia.