Telling the sex or gender of a newborn calf is good in knowing what kind of management decisions that need to be made according to what that calf is: For most females, they are kept or tested as replacements. For males, they are either kept to be raised as potential sires or steered to be raised for beef. There are only two sexes that a calf can be: male (a bull calf) or female (a heifer calf). The following steps are highly recommended to follow in order to tell what the sex of a new baby calf.
Method 1 of 2: Checking a Calf After Helping With a Difficult Delivery
1Clean the nose and mouth of the calf to get it breathingAd
2Lift one of the back legs up enough so you can see in between the legs.
- If there's only four little teats in between the hind legs, then it's a heifer-calf.
- If there's a little sac-like appendage (the scrotum) sticking out from between the legs, then it's a bull or bull-calf.
3Record the date of birth, sex of calf and the dam of the calf in your calving records.
Method 2 of 2: Checking a Calf After the Cow has Delivered Normally
1Look at the navel part of the calf. Except in Brahman- or Bos indicus-type breeds like Santa Gertrudis or Beefmasters, a more pendulous-like navel is common for bull calves. In heifers, there can be a smaller one, or none at all. Occasionally, however, it is not uncommon for heifers of other breeds that do not have Brahman-influence to also retain a navel, even past weaning age. With calves that are Brahman-influence, it's best to either check when you catch them for tagging and needling, or to watch when they urinate, as mentioned next.
2Watch where the calf urinates from.
- Heifers urinate out from under the tail (just like their mothers do).
- Bulls urinate from the navel, or from their bellies.
3When you catch the calf to tag, vaccinate or give vitamin/mineral injections (and possibly band), with a shepherd's hook or cattle cane to the calf's back leg, reach over the beside calf, grab the opposite flank with one hand and the neck (on the inside) with the other.
- Bend your knees slightly to allow for leverage and lift and pull the calf up towards you, then allow it slide to the ground onto its side.
- Immediately hold it down with one knee on its neck, the other on its side, with most of your weight on the calf's neck.
- With one hand, lift the top leg up to quickly check if it's a heifer or bull (see above in checking a calf after assisting with a difficult delivery), then do the tagging and vaccinating (and banding, if necessary) as quick as you can before Momma Cow decides she wants her calf back now.
4Release the calf back to its momma when you're done.Ad
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- After assisting a difficult birth, it's best to quickly check the sex of the calf before you put it in a calving pen and let the cow out, otherwise the cow will not want you anywhere near her calf after it's been born, or you could interfere with the natural processes of mom-and-baby-bonding after birth.
- Seeing where the calf urinates from is the safest, though time-consuming, way to tell the sex of a calf. You aren't going to be messing with the cow's calf when she doesn't want you to, because you'll be viewing them from a safe distance away.
- When tagging and vaccinating, it's best to do it a few days after it is born to allow the cow to bond with the calf.
My personal experience on a commercial cow/calf operation is that it's best to tag and vaccinate as soon after birth as possible. Catching a new born calf is much easier, than trying to catch a 3-4 day old calf.
- Cows are more dangerous during the first couple weeks after the calf has been born, so be very careful when you need to catch the calf to tag, vaccinate and possibly band it. Some cows will be less tolerant of you (not to mention more cranky) than others.