Carlos & Siran Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 One of those nights last night, I had a heifer who was showing signs of calving yesterday lunchtime, but she still hadn't calved after milking, decided to just keep an eye on her. Unfortunately I fell asleep after dinner and didn't get out there again till about 9.30 and she still hadn't calved, Nothing for it I thought and brought her into the shed to calve her. When I went in I found the front legs easily enough but I couldn't find the head, went in all the way to my shoulder and found the head twisted back around. So I worked the legs out and put the jack chains on, then spent prolly 15 mins trying to get the head around, thought I'd got it several times but as soon as I put tension on the jack I could feel that it just wasn't coming, tried a few more times but I knew I was wasting my time and she was getting really worked up by now. So I went home and rung the emergency vets in Kamo. The vet got here around 11.00 pm, and by now my eyes were hanging out, She had a look and agreed that it wouldn't come and said we'd have to do a fetalostomy and cut the calf's head off as it had died. I heard about it before and seen pictures but never seen one in real life. I won't go into to much detail as it's quite grisly but it took us prolly another 20 mins to get the calf out. I finally got home around midnight. Started again at 5 this morning, went down to check the springers and to my horror found another heifer having trouble, the front legs and the head were partially out, but it's head was huuuge, she'd obviously been calving all night and the calf had died. So I rushed back to the shed and grabbed the trusty old calving jack again. She was lying on her side but I was still able to get the jack on, and got the calf out to it's hips, then it stuck, and just wouldn't come, I thought that it was perhaps because the cow was on her side and not allowing her hips to separate. Then she started fighting and slipped down into a drain, I panicked and clung onto her, and after a while I managed to take the chains off her calf and put them on her, and tie her to the quad. Then ran all the way back and grabbed the tractor. When I got back the boss had turned up, and we pulled her out of the drain, tied her calf back onto the quad and pulled it out. Man what a night, I can't wait till calvibg is over.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Really Sorry to hear about the Calves you lost Sounds Terrible Hope Both Mamma Cows are going to be OK :roll: And you manage to get a well earned Rest today sometime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 I feel more sorry for the poor cows! Stuck calves can be very hard to dislodge :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 When they stick on their hips you have to pull the calf down (towards the cows feet) and then twist to the side. The calf just falls out. It's never failed to work for me Cows always give birth to the front half of the calf lying down and when the get to the hips they stand up and turn around. The calfs weight pulls it down and twists it to the side as the cow stands and turns. By copying this when pulling a calf they never stick on their hips. I'm not a fan of calving jacks. I've seen a jack used 3 times and twice the cow got partially paralyzed back legs. I've pulled 50kg+ calves from <400kg heifers with only ropes, it's all technique. I've never used a jack, and I've never failed to get a calf out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted August 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Yep, done it a few times meself. but as I said the cow was lying down(on her side)she was exhusted and wouldn't get up, and the calf just wouldn't budge. As for the calving jack, I've found it takes all the hard work out of it, and as long as you go slow and allow the cows hips to close slowly it causes no probs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 yeah each case is individual so the same approach cannot be used all the time. hope the mother will be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.