We’ve had a couple of issues with calves this week.
The first was a mama that developed a twisted uterus. Somehow, through many different opportunities
the uterus gets twisted and the calf cannot be pushed out. But, meanwhile mama
was trying to push the calf out. She pushed so much that the calf died. We knew
it was dead before we called the vet.
Farmer and the vets rolled the cow to untwist the uterus. This was accomplished by
roping her legs and gently knocking her on the ground. You have to determine
which way the twist is and then roll the cow the opposite direction hoping the
weight of the calf with untwist the uterus. Success. The uterus was “untwisted”.
Except we still had a problem. Because of the twisted uterus
the cow wasn’t dilated properly and the calf had to be pulled.
The calf’s head was twisted back and the vet had a horrendous
time trying to get the head to come around.
We resorted to using the calf puller to try to gently coax
the calf out.
The vet worked and worked at this.
At one point she tried to use the snare. It reminds me of
those western “ties” that you cinch up. The idea is that the loop goes around
the back of the head and then it gets cinched up into the mouth of the calf and
then you pull. Nope, didn't work.
Finally, another vet came and after some time he did get the
calf out.
Another problem arose. There was a tear in her uterus and
she was bleeding. They pulled the uterus out to sew it up. It would
then be replaced back into the cow. But, the tear was too far up.
Farmer had to run for the cattle truck, load her in and race
her to the slaughter house. She had no medications in her and as long as she
can walk into the loading dock they would accept her.
He made it with no time to spare.
So, we lost a calf and a cow with this one. Hopefully the
amount we received for her will cover the vet call.
Then a couple of days later we had a calf born with water on
the brain. I’ve been here 42 years and that’s the second time that happened.
The calf lived for about 5 minutes. Sad, but it happens.
That’s just the way it goes sometimes.
