Birth injuries in calves and perinatal calf losses in a large dairy herd]

Post-mortem examinations were carried out on 65 calves which were stillborn or died within 24 hours of birth. All calves came from a large dairy unit with about one thousand cattle of the Schwarzbuntes Milchrind breed. To evaluate the perinatal losses, the farm records of parturitions from 1985-1990 were used. The calves had gross damage of the CNS, the musculature, subcutaneous tissue and internal organs such as lung and intestines. It may be assumed that a lesser degree of similar damage would also be present in the surviving calves. The level of perinatal losses is determined particularly by deaths following prolonged parturition due to foetal oversize in heifers and young cows, but also by the birth of immature calves of low weight after pregnancy of normal or decreased duration and by twin pregnancies with high total calf mass and relative immaturity of the calves.