Calving time will soon here, for many cattle operations across Canada and the U.S. The good news is that in most cases, everything goes just fine. The bad news? Sometimes things go wrong. That’s when it’s time to step in and help.
“The basic rule of thumb for cows is that once the water sac has ruptured, if the calf is normal, it should be born within 30 minutes,” says Robert Callan, head of the Livestock Medicine and Surgery Service and chief of staff for the Large Animal Hospital at the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
“In heifers, this time should be less than 60 minutes. It can take longer, for various reasons. In cows, it may be up to four hours and heifers up to eight hours, but you shouldn’t be waiting that long,” he adds. Either the calf is too big or there is a problem that takes more time for the calf to get into position.
“There are several recommendations regarding when to check a cow or heifer. I tend to be proactive and say that with a cow, if the calf is not born within 30 minutes, I give her another 30 minutes, and if the calf is not born by then or has not made noticeable progress, I provide assistance. In a heifer, I give her 90 minutes. Some people suggest that once you see the allantoic sac and the feet, you could give a heifer two hours, but we end up losing some calves if we wait that long,” he says.
“Another argument is that if you intervene too early and pull too hard, you’ll cause injury to the calf or cow.” Occasionally the placenta will detach quicker than you’d think, and if you wait too long you lose the calf. This is especially true if stage one labor was prolonged. “Cows that go into calving season in poor body condition may take longer than normal in labor, and if you don’t help them in a timely manner you may lose those calves. I tend to be proactive in situations like this,” says Callan.