Q&A for How to Tell if a Cow or Heifer Is About to Give Birth

Yes, but only if that cow continues to produce milk. The fact that she is pregnant or not actually has nothing to do with her ability to produce milk. A cow can be lactating (producing milk) when she is not pregnant as well as after she has been successfully bred. Cows can and often do produce milk (and suckle a calf) right up until she calves again.

Yes. The clear mucous will be showing from a few days to several weeks before calving. Keep a close watch on her vulva and tail-head. If that vulva starts getting more loose and the tail-head sinks down a little, that's a sign she's getting very close. And, to make matters worse, it's a heifer, so know that heifers are notorious for not calving when expected like with more mature and experienced cows.

It's unusual, but possible. Although this may not be the cow "calling" to her calf so much as groaning with ever stronger contractions that can cause any female in labor to be a little vocal.

Don't go by the mucus so much as you should the condition of the heifer's vulva; if it looks loose, enlarged, and swollen, and the tail-head is sunken in, that's a sign that she's getting very close. The light mucus coming out could be just normal vulval excretions, and it may be days to weeks before she calves. The vulva and rest of the hindquarters themselves are to be watched instead of just vulval mucus discharge.

As long as needed. Do NOT pull it out. Just let it come out naturally. The sack and the placenta will take a few days to be expelled from the uterus. If longer than 10 days, give her a shot of oxytocin to encourage her body to expel the retained placenta.

Either that's the placenta coming out, which you shouldn't be worried about, or it's very large with carbuncles (knobby things all over), which is the uterus hanging out which needs the veterinarian's attention ASAP.

Did she go from being round to being slim? It sounds like she already had her calf and is hiding it away from you. Cows and heifers tend to give birth away from the main herd and from prying eyes, and will also hide their young until they're old enough to be out and about and playing.

Oh yes, definitely. Heifers can make quite a show of it, sometimes they'll lie on their side, thrashing their legs and head around and making all kinds of noises. Heifers are good mothers, though, and develop a strong bond quickly, and are excellent at feeding their calves.

The creamish discharge would be the bull's semen. If he tried to mount her it's possible she's either already gone into labor, or aborted not too long ago and has gone into heat. A bull will be interested in the cow either way, because both times her estrogen levels will spike, bringing to his attention that she needs "servicing." I can't tell what's going on with the cow; you would know better, so keep an eye on her to see if she's acting weird and beginning to produce milk. That's another sign that she's already given birth, and may be hiding her calf.

Anything could have been wrong; she could have been having a really difficult birth and the owners didn't know how to help her or her calf. But if she was birthing, she should have been showing something from her rear, and attempting to push. She could've died of low calcium or magnesium in the blood, or something much more serious that the owners didn't know about or couldn't help her with. They should have called a vet out to look at her, regardless of the expense - and if they couldn't save her, had her put down.

Call the vet.

Yes. Her pelvis won't be as small to calve out as it would've been when she had her first calf. Sorry about the loss of her first born, hopefully the same thing doesn't happen this year. If it does, though, you might have to consider culling her.

The heifer should be around 15 months old to be ready to breed. Brahman- or Zebu-type heifers will typically be older, around 18 to 20 months old before they're ready to be bred by the bull.

Nothing that you should be worried about. It's just part of her female anatomy showing when she's as loose as she is, and more than likely coming close to calving soon.

She won't show much of an udder until she's close to calving or immediately after.

Please contact your veterinarian about this. Her being a downer is only a symptom of something else, and that something else is more than enough reason to get a bovine veterinarian out to check her out and see what can be done with her. Anything could be wrong with her, from nerve damage to her hind legs to milk fever.