Recording an aborted or a stillborn calf
An aborted calf is one that is born prior to full-term. A stillborn calf is one that is born dead but appears to be full-term. You can consider two lines of thought on how to best enter these types of calves in CattleMax.
Option 1 (recommended) - Enter the calf as a dead calf for that cow
Since the cow experienced a pregnancy, a normal calf record should be created for this animal. To do this you would simply add the calf using the typical method but list the calf's status as "dead." View this article for the different methods used to calve a cow in CattleMax.
An example of how you might enter this "dead" calf for faster identification of either an aborted calf (born dead before full-term) or a stillborn calf (born dead at full-term) is to note that in the ear tag entry for that animal. If cow 19 has an aborted calf, you might choose to enter that dead calf as 19Abort1, 19Abort2, etc. or for a stillborn calf, you might list the ear tag as 19SB1, 19SB2, etc.
Option 2 - Do not enter a calf for that cow, simply set her breeding record back to open (two options)
Since the calf was not actually born alive, no calf record would be created for this animal. However, the cow’s current breeding status will still show as Bred or Exposed until you do one of two things:
# 1 (recommended) – Record an Observation Pregnancy Check with a result of Open
- Go to the cow’s record
- Click the Breeding tab
- Click New Pregnancy Check
- Enter the date the cow aborted as the Check Date, Check Method as Observation with Result of Open. You may also want to record any notes in the Comments box such as "aborted calf"
# 2 – Archive the breeding
- Go to the cow’s record
- Click the Breeding tab
- Click on the date entry for the breeding record(s) that refer to this cow’s pregnancy then click Edit
- Check the Archived checkbox and add comments such as "aborted calf" before clicking Update Breeding
Option 1 or #1 under Option 2 is recommended because these help detail why the cow’s breeding did not result in a live calf. However, if you do not want to create a New Animal or a Pregnancy Check, then you can choose #2 under Option 2.