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Heifer calving rant...
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PPLC
Posted 3/11/2019 21:43 (#7374638 - in reply to #7371575)
Subject: RE: Heifer calving rant...


oldtiger - 3/10/2019 13:57

To the OP,,,I keep revisiting this post,,kind of in amazement. First I'm somewhat surprised at the general tone of the responses that want to blame the vet. The vet made the wrong call, we can now see in hindsight, but I'd say most older vets I know would go for the pull first also,,,and I don't really understand that, because a C- section is a pretty easy procedure. All that said, in my mind, the blame lays more with you, than the vet. It sounds like you're having a rough year, I'll kinda give you that, you will have those occasionally. But,,,you have to stack the odds in your favor. I can only remember one C here, and one that should have been, both in early bred 14-15 month old hfs getting accidentally bred (all hfs get aborted at weaning now to avoid this problem). When you have calved several thousand hfs, then you get to say you've calved a LOT, you're not there yet. Secondly, not sure what your version of a calving ease bull is, subject to broad interpretation, maybe the bull is, maybe he isn't. Thirdly, you didn't give much description of the hfs size or development. Lastly, several of us mentioned pelvic checks and got no response, so I'm assuming that wasn't done. It is just a must. We do a bunch every year in our's and help several neighbor's with their's. It never fails, there are a handful that flat out don't measure out or have a properly developed tract. When I say measure, I mean the vet actually puts in a tool with a measuring scale on it and measures up and down, and side to side. On the ones that fail, they won't calf unassisted. One year on a partnership herd, the partner wanted to keep some extra hfs. When we pelvic checked, we went below the normal cut-off number and kept all but the absolute nots. Guess what, next year the grey area ones were the ones where the pulls and dead calves came from. We knew going in it was wrong, and was a hard lesson to relearn. Please don't think I'm harshly criticizing you, that's not the intention at all, just try to use your bad luck to gently teach. By the way, I have a pretty good eye, the ones that won't measure out,,,you can't visually pick them out. Properly bred, developed, and measured hfs are almost as easy as mature cows as far as calving. Occasionally, one will need a little help getting the head to POP through the vaginal opening, but those are real easy pulls. Best of luck to you, tell your regular vet it's time to measure hfs, if he doesn't do it (some don't), find one that will. Send the off's to the feedlot, and enjoy calving the rest. Oh, one other trick, use a vet that ultrasounds pregs, and do them first trimester. The vet will be able to call days pretty close, and call sex. When you calf, anything that is running longer than anticipated, and is carrying a bull calf, pay a little extra attention to



.. thank you . Good reading for people like myself who are starting later in life
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