Hereford399
Well-known member
What is the earliest a beef calf can be born safely ?
Early born beef calf
- Thread starter Hereford399
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My experience has been that most will come within 10 days before or after the due date. We did have a set of twins last year that were about a month early...one died, and we saved the other. She weighed about 40 pounds and couldn't stand up on her own for a few days, but she's good now!
Hereford399
Well-known member
I have a calf due the 31st and her mother is showing signs she could have it in the next day or two
cowsrcuddly
Well-known member
Some heifers get very sloopy vulvas and very tight/full udders several weeks in advance. We have had first calf heifers with very full udders all the way up the back that I put in the barn thinking she was close, only to go full term (within 5 days of due date). OR...you could be the proud parent of twins soon. Good luck!
<beer>
<beer>
Yep...some females tend to show a lot more a lot sooner than others. We have noticed that certain females look like "any minute now" for a couple weeks, some just bag up and do it all at once. I agree...first-calf-heifers can sometimes swell a lot real early, and you'll think they look ready to calve, then they just swell more! My experience is that twins will USUALLY come a week to ten days early, but I raise Simmies and, they'll have more twins than Herefords. I guess that's a possibility, but even if she's early, doesn't mean it will be twins. If she's bred to a low birth weight or calving ease "heifer bull" I think a lot of the reason some bulls are low birth weight is due to shorter gestation, which usually means smaller calves. Usually...
kfacres
Well-known member
have had premee calves born 20-30 days early in the 25-35 lb range make it... about 20% of them I'd guess.
It's amazing.. first calf heifers will swell up, and be about ready to explode by the time they calve.. The really good milkers, will even leak milk for a couple days...
old cows on the other hand... they'll bag up about 2 days before calving... if at all..
I've made hte mistake of inducing labor a few times when i was sure the female was uncomfortable and ready to go... in each case I'd screwed up and she would have gone another cycle.. ended up losing the baby born prematurely.
It's amazing.. first calf heifers will swell up, and be about ready to explode by the time they calve.. The really good milkers, will even leak milk for a couple days...
old cows on the other hand... they'll bag up about 2 days before calving... if at all..
I've made hte mistake of inducing labor a few times when i was sure the female was uncomfortable and ready to go... in each case I'd screwed up and she would have gone another cycle.. ended up losing the baby born prematurely.
twistedhshowstock
Well-known member
leanbeef said:
Gestation length is not gonna have much if anything to do with the bull. The cows body and hormones are what induce labor and the semen in her doesnt have much to do with that. In fact I would believe a bull would be more likely to induce a shorter pregnancy in the situation that he wasnt calving ease and the calf got big enough that evertyhing told the cow it was time to go ahead and have it.
OKshorthorn
Well-known member
I'm guessing because of the drought this past summer, but we had everything calve an average of a week early. One heifer calf came 10 early and was a healthy 81 pounds.
I have always been told 2 weeks early is the safe cut off.
I have always been told 2 weeks early is the safe cut off.
[/quote]
Gestation length is not gonna have much if anything to do with the bull. The cows body and hormones are what induce labor and the semen in her doesnt have much to do with that. In fact I would believe a bull would be more likely to induce a shorter pregnancy in the situation that he wasnt calving ease and the calf got big enough that evertyhing told the cow it was time to go ahead and have it.
[/quote]i will have to disagree with all of that
Gestation length is not gonna have much if anything to do with the bull. The cows body and hormones are what induce labor and the semen in her doesnt have much to do with that. In fact I would believe a bull would be more likely to induce a shorter pregnancy in the situation that he wasnt calving ease and the calf got big enough that evertyhing told the cow it was time to go ahead and have it.
[/quote]i will have to disagree with all of that
