Our herdsman/vet was out of town and the call came from the herdsman's assistant that we might have another twisted uterus. "Didn't we just do this a couple of months ago?" I thought.
Off to the barn.
I figured that I'd take my camera and tag along just in case. Maybe I could catch the "cow tipping/rolling" on camera.
Farmer checked the cow and agreed with the twisted issue. Farmer, Son #4, Assistant #1, Assistant #2 (a new addition to our farm is a young lady with an Animal Science Degree from MSU) and myself (the always documenter of all things) went about getting supplies to tip the cow.
We needed a rope to get her on the ground. We did not drug her like the vet would have. We might have been able to figure that out, but the wellbeing of the cow was more important, so we left the drugs to the experts. We put a halter on her and pulled the rope from the halter back around her back leg and "tripped" her.
Once she was down it took all of them (remember, I had to snap the pictures) to roll her. Not being sure which way to roll, they started by rolling her towards her left side.
Once she was rolled, Son #4 had the honors of checking her this time.
Still twisted. She got up and walked around a few steps.
We took the rope and tripped her again so she would be laying in the best position to tip her the opposite direction. Once we rolled her the second time the uterus was exactly where it should be.
The calf, not so much. The calf was presenting front feet first with its head turned back to its right side.
Mama had been and was continuing to be in turbo push mode and was pushing the calf with its head pinned back right up against her hip bone.
By this time it was determined the calf had died. But, we still needed to get the calf out. We needed to loop an OB chain around the front feet of the calf in the cow and another one around the calf's jaw to align the head for a proper delivery. While Farmer was reaching inside, trying to loop the OB chain, mama was doing what she was created for. I’m not sure what the pounds of pressure her pushing created, but Farmer was no match for her.
We tried rearranging her by standing her up, laying her down and even tried to sit her up. At one point Farmer was pulling her forward while I wedged myself under her shoulder, sitting in the slime covered shavings, bracing myself with my feet and hands braced trying to hoist her up. I was no match for her weight.
Son #4 had to leave for an appointment; Assistant #1 had to go milk in the treatment parlor. Farmer and Assistant #2 decided it was time to call the vet. He was about an hour out.
Farmer and Assistant #2 went off to breed cows and I stayed with my BEB. I sat in the shavings next to her head rubbing her face. She was still trying to push and was moaning. I sat. I prayed. I cried. I felt so bad for her. (By the way, we are one of those awful wicked CAFO factory farms that you hear about in mostly negative slanted media that doesn’t care about our animals.)
The vet got there in about 40 minutes and he, Assistant #2 and myself, got started. We got her up. That's a good thing. When a cow goes down, it isn't good. He checked her and agreed with everything we had done up to that point.
Eventually he got chains around the hooves and with the help of yet another strong strapping young man who works for us pulled like their lives depended on it. They were working the chains in a way that would move the legs just enough to get another chain around the calf's jaw.
Finally, victory. Now it was time to pull the calf out. By now the calf had bloated some and it was a big calf.
The vet asked for the calf puller. It looks like a medieval torture devise. Basically it's a metal frame that goes around the butt of the cow. A 1 ½” square stainless steel tube about five feet long attaches to the metal frame. A ratchet assembly rides along the pole attached to the OB chain which is attached to the calf’s legs.
Carefully and slowly the puller is ratcheted and it pulls the calf out. Little by little, with periods of rest the calf was delivered.
The vet gave our BEB a shot of oxytocin to help contract the uterus to shed the placenta.
We also left the calf in with the mother so she would be distracted. Sometimes after a cow has a calf and hasn't bonded with it or realized she delivered,she will keep pushing and will actually push her uterus out. She was a good mama and stayed by her calf. We kept a close watch on her. She stayed on her feet and there was no tearing inside so she will be fine.
This twisted uterus ended up with a dead calf, like the last one, but at least there was no surgery. I asked the vet what percentages of births have this happen. He said he didn't know - it was totally random and couldn't be predicted.
