Below you will find pictures with discriptions about the birthing process of a beef cow, in each stage of labor thru delivery. This heifer was about 2 1/2 yrs old at the time this calf was born. It took her 9 months (just like humans) or 292 days from conception to birth. Usually a calf will nurse for 6 months.

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The first stage of a heifer starting labor.

The first sack is a water sack (this sack does not have the calf in it). This sack will break and the fluid will come out, then the next sack with the baby in it will start to come out.

Placenta and/or the sack that has the baby calf in it.

The sack has broke and now the feet are coming out.-------------->

The feet with the nose and the tounge starting to come out. At this point the heifer was having trouble. You can see one leg out further then the other, the knee is bent and preventing the calf from coming out, so we had to help by pulling the leg out straight and then pulling both legs to help get the baby out.

The head, feet, and shoulders of the calf are out now. This is how far we pulled the calf to help the mother in delivery.

The cow still had trouble and was tired by now, so we finished pulling the calf out. Seconds after the calf is born. We are checking to make sure the calf is breathing. If the calf would not have been breathing we would have pushed on his chest to help him. If that didn't work we would have picked him up by his hind legs and shake him to help get some of the fluid out of his lungs. We also cleaned some out of his mouth. In a normal delivery the mother licks him and he shakes his head to get this off, no human help is needed.

The cow licking the calf to clean and dry it. Also the afterbirth is still attached to the uterus of the cow.

The calf sitting up as his mom still cleans him before he gets up an nurses.

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