A Knowledgeable Cattle Rancher Can Save a Calf

When heifers give birth, many ranchers want to take part. It’s a new trend among cattle ranchers and, since giving birth is often a difficult process for heifers, especially the younger ones, ranchers are now taking a much larger part in the process and that help may save the life of the heifer and her young offspring. It is important to use every hand possible to save not only the life of the heifer and the offspring, but can also mean a financial windfall down the road as healthy cattle obviously command top dollar on the open market.

It is also the humane way to do everything you can as a cattle rancher to make the birthing process as easy as possible. A young heifer doesn’t go to birthing classes like humans, so the more support you can offer allows for a more comfortable experience for the heifer.

It is typically the first-time mothers that have the most difficulty delivering their calves. The labor can last almost three times as long as veteran heifers, but complications can arise in any birth regarding a heifer, first-time or any time after that. It is a complicated process, even if the heifer has had easy deliveries in the past. Every time is a new experience.

When a young calf is born tail first, someone needs to intervene and that is where the experienced cattle rancher comes in to the play. The process is a difficult one so the cattle rancher needs to know how to handle things on his or her own instead of calling for a vet every time one of his heifers is giving birth. There is not a lot of time for the vet to get there in the first place, so taking care of business themselves is vital for the cattle rancher If the calf starts coming out backwards, there is pressure on the umbilical cord which is not a good thing.

It causes a limited amount of blood supply going straight to the calf’s brain and that can result in death or serious injury. Whether it is a humane thought or not, cattle are moneymakers and the loss of a heifer or a young calf can be very costly. The calf can drown in their own fluids if they aren’t birthed right away. If the calf isn’t born in four minutes at the most, the chance of successful birth is very small.

That doesn’t mean everything is great even if the calf is born mostly healthy. Further evaluation is necessary and one-on-one care is needed by the rancher to see that the calf grows to full size. The heifer might not be able to take care of vital needs. Calves born underweight especially need more help from a knowledgeable rancher.

Jeff Berlinicke