Medical Tips
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| Gestation Calculator Calving Tube Feeding Bottle Feeding Vaccinations and Shots Castrating |
DeHorning |
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Gestation
Gestation usually runs 285 days, however the range is from 278 days to 290 days. Generally smaller breeds calve up to 10 days earlier. Below is a gestation calculator that will help you estimate your calving date.
Calving
Calving Signs
Use the gestation calculator to more accurately get a due date. When the cow gets close to calving there will be a number of signs to look for. Her bag will begin to get full, her vulva will swell and there might be a mucous discharge, the cow might separate from the rest of the herd and she'll start pawing or sniffing the ground or walking in circles. Be sure to check your cow frequently when you notice some of these signs. This means the due date is VERY close!
Assisting the Cow in Birth
If the membrane sack or "bag of waters" has broken and the cow has been pushing, straining and or stressing for a while, you will need to assist her in birth if there are no signs of the calf coming out. You will need to thoroughly cleanse your hands and arms and use an arm length clove if possible. Slide your hand into the vagina of the cow and see if you can feel the calves hooves. If the calves hooves ar together and pointed out with its head down (like in a diving position) the calf is in the correct birthing position and you should gently pull the calf out by his hooves. If the calf is turned or in any other position than the above mentioned, you will need to try to move the calf into the correct position, then pull. If it is not possible to move the calf into a good birthing position, you will need to contact a vet to assist.
Aftercare of Newborn
You will need some fresh towels to dry off the newborn baby.
The mother cow should then pass the placenta. It is normal for the mother
to eat some of the placenta for this is a good source of nutrition for
her. Proceed to then cut the umbilical cords with a pair of sharp, sterile
scissors. Leave about an inch to an inch and a half of umbilical cord.
Then douse the umbilical cord with iodine to help prevent infection. Also
make sure the baby is standing and attempting to nurse within the first
hour after birth. If they are not, you might need to tube feed the baby
and get the baby warm. Try your best not to take the baby away from the
mother, or interfere too much because this might confuse the cow into
thinking she miscarried. ONLY TAKE THE CALF AWAY FROM THE MOTHER IF ABSOLUTELY
NECESSARY.
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Tube Feeding
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Bottle Feeding
Once your calf is up and going and ready to nurse you can begin bottle
feeding. You will need to get a calf bottle which can be purchased at
any livestock supply store. If at all possible, it would be best to get
another cow to take the calf.
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Vaccinations and Shots
General vaccinations given are blackleg, malignant edema, IBR, BVD,
PI3, BRSV, Hoemophilus somnus and internal and external parasite control.
Booster vaccinations 6 to 10 days later may be recommended by your veterinarian.
Close observance twice or more daily to detect sick animals is very important
for the first three weeks after arrival.
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Castrating
Many farmers still band their calves to castrate. The biggest obstacle
to this approach is the threat of tetanus. In addition, the calves seem
to be held back a few days with this technique. A better approach is to
surgically castrate at as young an age as is practical. Calves cut on
the first day of life show no signs of stress and heal almost immediately.
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Dehorning
It is best to dehorn calves at less than three months of age. They suffer less stress because they are more easily handled, and the preferred methods cause little or no bleeding, heal quickly, and do not result in any significant setbacks.
Cattle should be dehorned on dry cool days to allow the wound to dry quickly with the minimum risk of infection. The best time is late afternoon, when fly activity is usually low. Never dehorn cattle in wet weather, because the healing rate is decreased and the risk of infection increased.
For dehorning to be done successfully, operators need a basic knowledge of the internal structure of the horn and how it develops.
As shown above, the horn grows from the skin around its base in much the same way as the wall of the hoof grows down from the skin of the coronet of the foot. In young calves up to about two months of age, the horn bud is free-floating in the skin layer above the skull. As the calf grows older, the horn bud attaches to the skull and a small horn starts to grow.
Dehorning should be performed before this attachment to the skull occurs. It then becomes a much simpler exercise, and results in far less bleeding.
To ensure that there will be no regrowth of the horn after dehorning, the operator must remove the horn-forming tissue. This is done by removing a ring of skin at least 1 cm wide with the horn bud (see diagram B above).
The most common mistake when dehorning is to remove an incomplete ring of hair around the horn bud. This allows a scur to grow. Take care to dehorn all calves and to dehorn them carefully and accurately, remembering the ‘1 cm rule’. If the horn bud has an incomplete ring of hair, a second cut will be needed to remove all horn-forming tissue.
Once the horn bud attaches to the skull, the horn core becomes a bony extension of the skull and the hollow center of the core opens directly into the frontal sinuses of the skull. In this situation, the frontal sinuses are opened and the soft membranous covering of the cranium (skull) is often exposed to view. This is not the brain (as is sometimes thought) and its exposure does not harm the calf. In older calves it takes only a short time after dehorning for this opening to close, but it is during this period that the animal is prone to flystrike and sinus infections.
Methods of dehorning
Calves up to two months old
On intensively managed properties, it is feasible to dehorn very young
calves (up to two months old) . Three methods are commonly used: hot iron,
knife, and spoon or tube.
Hot iron
Various hot iron dehorning tools are available, including wood fire heated,
LPG heated, butane gas heated and 12- and 24-volt electric models. Generally
these methods are best suited to calves up to about 8 weeks of age.
| With the calf firmly restrained and the iron heated to a cherry red color, apply the iron firmly over the emerging horn bud. Roll the hot iron over the horn bud several times so that a ring of tissue around the bud is burnt through the full thickness of the skin. Heat must be transferred evenly all the way around the horn bud to ensure that the horn growth tissue is destroyed. In due course the horn bud will drop off. |  |
The benefits of this method of dehorning are that it can be carried out at any time of the year. There is no loss of blood and no wound to become infected.
Knife
A curved knife similar to a farrier’s knife (but without a hook
on the end) can be used for dehorning. Start the cut about 2 cm away from
the base of the horn, then draw the knife through the skin towards and
through the horn, slicing off the horn level with the skull. This will
remove an elliptical piece of skin with the horn in the center. If the
cut has gone too near the edge of the horn so that the removed horn bud
has an incomplete ring of hair, make another small cut to remove the skin
to ensure no horn-forming tissue is left from which a scur (a rudimentary,
deformed horn) may grow. Make the cut swiftly and firmly.
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Spoon or tube dehorners
These instruments are used in a similar way to the knife to remove the
small horn bud.
Older calves and weaners
The choice of tool for dehorning older calves (two to six months of age
and weaners) is varied, but the most commonly used are the cup type (below
left) or scoop type (below right) dehorners.
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Cup dehorners are operated with a scissor-like movement. The operator may need an assistant to apply downward pressure on the tool to stop it from riding up the horn and leaving some horn-forming tissue behind. The scoop type dehorner is pressed down vertically on the horn as the operator spreads the leverage arms.
Both instruments are effective and easy to use. When removing the horn with either instrument the same principle applies as with the knife: at least a 1 cm ring of skin around the base of the horn must be removed.
Treatment after dehorning
After the operation, animals may bleed freely for a short time. Heat cauterising
of the wound of older calves is gaining acceptance as a means of reducing
blood loss and drying out the wound.
The application of a proprietary wound dressing powder (dusting powder) is often sufficient treatment; a powder that contains a fly repellent is recommended if dehorning in the warmer months when flies are a problem.
Dehorning pads are available from many rural merchants. These are placed on the wound and reduce the amount of blood loss from the operation. The pads are left on the wound until they drop off with the scab.
As stated on the Code of Practice, after dehorning, cattle should be inspected regularly for the first 10 days and any infected wounds treated.
Horn tipping
| The removal of the sharp points of the horns of adult cattle is known as horn tipping. This procedure is of little value in reducing the amount or severity of bruising on carcases, but tipping can relieve the irritation caused when a curled horn grows back into the head. The operation can sometimes be done by placing large dehorners over the horn tip. Where this is not possible, embryotomy wire is used to saw through the horn tip. |  |
Images and information on dehorning taken from Rod Thompson, former Livestock Officer (Beef Cattle) with the Department of Agriculture’s Research and Advisory Station at Glen Innes.