Dexters are great mothers and birth easily. Their natural instincts tell them how to care for their new calf. They give birth, lick their calf clean, and help them stand withing minutes of giving birth. It is pretty amazing.
That said, there are a few things we like to do to help our calves and increase their chances for good health.
First, we move them to a dry, clean area away from the rest of the herd. This calf was born in the pasture on a windy, stormy afternoon. We moved her and her mother to a private pen that is sheltered from the wind.
Separating them from the herd minimizes pathogen exposure and allows the mother and calf to bond. We have a very dominate Grandmother cow in our herd that always wants to help with the other baby calves. It is good for the young mothers to have their own space to figure things out.
There are many vaccines that can be given to a new calf. Many of these depend on your area, herd size, and what the calf will be exposed to. We have 3 vaccines and 1 supplement that we administer to our new calves.
1. Oral Calf-Guard Vaccine – This vaccinates against viruses that cause scours.
2. Intranasal TSV-2 Vaccine – This vaccinates against common respiratory viruses.
3. BO-SE Supplement Injection – This is a Selenium and Vitamin E supplement. We have a selenium deficiency in our soil. The lack of selenium can cause white muscle disease. This supplement and a mineral block provide the missing nutrition.
4. Ultrabac 8 Vaccine – Protects calf against 8 common strains of Clostridium.
Next we clean the umbilical chord with iodine to help prevent infection. We also use dry towels to help clean and dry the calf if needed. This calf was overdue, and you can see from the rags we use that she was very dirty. We think that she had a bowel movement before she was born. We tried to help clean her up.
It is important to observe or help the calf nurse in the first few hours after birth. This mother was very jumpy from the storm, so we held her head and helped the calf latch on. She would have figured it out on her own, but since we were there we sped up the process.
A few hours after birth we give the calf an ear tattoo for identification. Then we leave the mother and calf alone to bond. Over the next few days we keep them separate from the herd. We make sure the calf is nursing and watch closely for signs of scours.
This is how we have cared for all of our new calves, and have had happy, healthy calves. What are your tips or tricks for caring for a new calf?
