Cow past calving date?

Question

One of our cows who has had several past calves including twins, has went past her due date. She was due the end of May thru the first week of June. Back in May she started to bag up and as her due date got closer her bag got really big and tight. As of now there is still no calf and her bag is about half the size is was 2 weeks ago. She is still fat and seems to be healthy, there is no discharge. She is in an area that coyotes are highly unlikely, and neither is theft of the calf. Is it possible the vet ultrasound is off, if so how do you expalin her bagging up, then going back down. How do you know if she has an undelivered stillborn inside her? I know the vet would be the final answer, we were hoping our dates were off and could avoid vet expense. Please any advice, or experience with this sort of situation would be appreciated.

Answer 1

call your vet

Answer 2

You could if you can get close to her bump her....you press on the side that the calf should be on and push in as far as you can and release then press again and you should be able to feel or see movement...

Is it possible another cow has stolen her newborn?  That has happened  to my cows before. I had a old mare that was a retired broodmare that I would have to pen up during calving season because she would steal the newborn calves from the mothers...it was kind of heart wrenching to watch the mare go thru wanting babies soooo much yet not having any of her own.

I would give your cow another week then have the vet check her.  There could be several things going on not to mention she may have been bred at a later date than thought.

If you can get close to her you could also try expressing milk.  They generally won't have true colostrum or milk until 24 hours before calving and there are other signs as well....swollen loose v***a, pinkish white discharge indicating loss of the "plug" or sometimes if the calf isn't in the correct position then the  front feet are not bouncing on the cervix which tells the cervix to begin softening and effacing which in turn starts the labor process.

9 months is just a "mean" or middle of the short and long pregnancy time but really if things just don't feel right to you then I would have the vet out to check her.

Better safe than sorry....good luck and let us know what happens....

Answer 3

the bad news no calf from this cow she already bagged up and now the bag is down she is either doing a really good job of hiding the little fellow or the calf is gone a cow will not bagup and then go back down and still have a calf mother nature's law

Answer 4

Her back end will dialate and get sloppier closer to when she's calving. The vet can be off if he ultrasonded in the fall. I had preg checking be off several months  Good luck

Answer 5

I think that she obviously had the calf and lost it somehow. You can tell for sure by doing an internal examination, exactly like the vet would do if you called him. Put her into a catch chute wash and disinfect your hand and up to your shoulder and feel inside her. You can tell right away rather there is a calf in there or not.

I had this happen to a mare once, she was almost due when she stepped on a nail. I had the vet out for the hoof and had him check on the colt while he was there. He found the colt was in position to come correctly, and said it should not be more than a few days. He came back in two weeks to check the hoof. I still hadn't seen any colt, but the mare looked different. I had her check her again, no colt. That mare was in a five acre field and I never did find the colt and have never figured out what happened to it.

Answer 6

Since you are nearing one month past the suspected due date and the fact that the cow bagged up and was "tight", you do have one of two things: a stillborn calf or a calf born and where that calf is, dead or alive, is still unanswered.  Palpating this cow will help decide which way to focus your concerns.  

Palpating your cow should be done by someone with experience.  In the olden days my father would "soap up" when he put his arm through the v***a and reaching into the uterus to help pull out the retained placenta after cow calved.  For your situation it would be best for someone to put on a plastic sleeve and do a rectal palpation of the uterus.  For the novice, this is a warm and mushy world with the cow trying to push you out as much as you are pushing to get in and you may mis-diagnose your situation.  For the health of your cow, call the vet, get a proper diagnosis so that you can proceed accordingly.  The fact that your cow had twins may or may not be an issue.  At times twins can cause future reproduction issues especially if there was a retained placenta and in turn creating a uterine infection yet seems unlikely as the cow was considered pregnant and bagged up according to the calendar.  

I suspect the animal was bred and was carrying a calf to full term.  If your cow is on good grass she may not show much of any signs of weight loss, yet this is not common.  The fact that she bagged up tight, is your key that the cow was in calf to full term, determining where that calf is at this point is what needs to be answered.   Good luck.

Answer 7

IN MY EXPERIENCE IT IS NOT UNKNOWN FOR A COW TO BE THREE WEEKS EARLY TO THREE WEEKS LATE. AFTER THAT I'D BE CALLING THE VET.

Answer 8

she mostly likely miscarried the calf or had a false pregnancy