Calving Trouble

[jsuhr]

Viewer Discretion Is Advised!!!! As I checked over the cows close to calving this evening I noticed a cow that seemed to be in labor, and also happened to look the same way yesterday. Yesterday i figured she was just coming in and having normal contractions, no big deal. This evening when she contracted, I though i saw a foot poke out. To be safe we tied her and reached in to be sure everything was ok. What had been going on, was both feet were back and just the head was forward. We tried and tried to monkey the front feet around but no luck. At this point we concluded the calf had been dead for a couple days. Then our only option was to eliminate part of the dead calf to make more room. The head came out and we had to take out the saw... (you can finish the thought). The vet had done this one other time with a similar situation years ago. Then we got one leg forward but no luck there either. We hooked up the come-along and that dismembered the one front leg unfortunately. As I think about this and feel awful and sick, all I could do is wonder why and how or what happened to kill the calf. She was arguably our best cow, and had previously had 6 calves. Her first 5 were bulls and last year we luckily got a nice heifer that I kept.  As much as we enjoy the good times, situations like this really make a guy doubt himself, and the business he's in. Hopefully better luck will come with the rest of the cows. 

 

[KSanburg]

Sorry to hear of your loss. Better luck with the rest of your calving season.

 

[ALTSIMMY 79]

Ya thats a tough pill to swallow, we've all been there in one way or another. But the day your best cow pops out that perfect calf,  well,  that makes up for it.

 

[jsuhr]

And when I went out this morning to check on things I found that the cow had died. I imagine just from too much stress.  Plus the calf was a heifer. Like you said simmy79, thats a tough pill to swallow...

 

[CAB]

Sorry for your loss. I know hindsight is 20/20 and just for learning experience for other young members on the board. If you have a cow like Jsuhr described the first day, if you have a  feeling that a cow is calving or starting to go into labor, go back in an hour and if she is not making progress, get her in to ck out what is going on. Many of the breech positions are hard to actually diagnose without getting the cow in to examine physically. It just may save a calf & some heartbreak along the way. In saying this, I am not trying to second guess Jsuhr's decisions, just want PPL to take a lesson from their loss. We all have those losses.

 

[willow]

Viewer Discretion Is Advised!!!! As I checked over the cows close to calving this evening I noticed a cow that seemed to be in labor, and also happened to look the same way yesterday. Yesterday i figured she was just coming in and having normal contractions, no big deal. This evening when she contracted, I though i saw a foot poke out. To be safe we tied her and reached in to be sure everything was ok. What had been going on, was both feet were back and just the head was forward. We tried and tried to monkey the front feet around but no luck. At this point we concluded the calf had been dead for a couple days. Then our only option was to eliminate part of the dead calf to make more room. The head came out and we had to take out the saw... (you can finish the thought). The vet had done this one other time with a similar situation years ago. Then we got one leg forward but no luck there either. We hooked up the come-along and that dismembered the one front leg unfortunately. As I think about this and feel awful and sick, all I could do is wonder why and how or what happened to kill the calf. She was arguably our best cow, and had previously had 6 calves. Her first 5 were bulls and last year we luckily got a nice heifer that I kept.  As much as we enjoy the good times, situations like this really make a guy doubt himself, and the business he's in. Hopefully better luck will come with the rest of the cows. 

Jsuhr, do you think the calf died during labor and it just went unnoticed for too long?  Wow that just sounds like a horrible experience and then to lose the cow on top of it all.  I bet it feels like someone just punched you in the gut.  Ugh so sorry.

 

[husker1]

You can never check too often.  I probably get in 10 cows a year just to make sure everything is coming right, then the majority get kicked right back out....2 weeks ago had one coming tail first.  In addition, we've had 3 other breeches as well.  Being pro-active really saves lots of potential major problems. 

We are always learning new lessons....

 

[obie105]

I had a cow just like him. She made no progress for almost 12 hrs so we got her in and had to have the vet come help pull. It was backwards and she never dialated.

 

[leanbeef]

"...all I could do is wonder why and how or what happened to kill the calf.

Your calf died because the cow was in labor too long, and the presentation of the calf would not allow her to deliver. The fact that the calf had started to decompose by the time you were able to help deliver it means she had likely been in labor for a couple of days, and that would also examine the cow being dead the next morning. After that much time, infection sets in, and the outlook becomes grim.

We've all learned hard lessons, and no doubt you've learned one now. I hate to hear stories like that, but all we can do is try our best to become better at what we do. It's easy to take for granted that a cow that's had six calves will calve easy without incident, but all it takes is a presentation like that, and she needs as much help as any first calf heifer ever did. You just have to watch em close and stay on top of calving problems when they come along.

Sorry about the rough time. I doubt many of us don't have a story we wish we could go back and change the ending of. The opportunity we have is to learn from those and let it change the ending of the next would-be horror story!

 

[firesweepranch]

When I was younger, I worked on a dairy. We had a heifer that was calving with no progress. We got the vet out, and the vet determined the calf was dead and that it needed to be cut out. I had to keep pressure on the legs while he sawed (he cut off one shoulder to make the calf smaller to pull naturally instead of c-section). I told him it felt like the calf was jerking back on the chain, but he assured me that it was because he was cutting through the ligaments making it seem the calf was moving. Imagine our surprise when we got the rest of the calf out and it was alive and trying to stand! He immediately put the calf down, and we both cried the entire time. The hardest thing I had ever witnessed.

On another note, last fall we had a second calver that acted like she was going into labor late at night. She would pace, and throw her tail up every so often. We got up with her every few hours, but she never laid down and started to push. I called the vet in the morning and was going to meet him at noon as soon as I got off work to have him check her, and he said he did not want to wait for me and headed right out. He called me less than an hour later to tell me he delivered twins, both alive. Neither calf was getting into position so he had to get the first one in line and the other came right out. We were lucky! Next time, I am going not be so shy and get my arm in there and check her myself.

 

[jsuhr]

When I was younger, I worked on a dairy. We had a heifer that was calving with no progress. We got the vet out, and the vet determined the calf was dead and that it needed to be cut out. I had to keep pressure on the legs while he sawed (he cut off one shoulder to make the calf smaller to pull naturally instead of c-section). I told him it felt like the calf was jerking back on the chain, but he assured me that it was because he was cutting through the ligaments making it seem the calf was moving. Imagine our surprise when we got the rest of the calf out and it was alive and trying to stand! He immediately put the calf down, and we both cried the entire time. The hardest thing I had ever witnessed.
I can't even imagine that!
Yah I certainly learned the hard way on this one. She was AI'd for the 29th of Feb so we were watching of course but not as careful as the few that were closer. And looking back of course, the "shoulda, woulda, coulda's" come in but now we know to watch things that much closer. Thanks for the support folks!

 

[cowpoke]

I am about 50% done with around my 50TH calf crop.A,  few things I have learned,the one time you dont check them during the night something will go wrong,If you decide to go somewhere a cow will start calving,anything after two hours from the time the water bag shows and no progress is time for action,breech calves are hard to detect and they say calves are born backwards but the ones we pull
dont come easy.If you dont think a calf has nursed it probably hasnt.Heifers no matter how they are managed need to have calves less than 75#s or less.The worst experience is a PHA calf .I think I have seen most every thing that can happen.Even at my age it is hard to not get tears when you lose one and we all do.Seeing your labor from selection to AIing to delivery can be joyfull to devastating and seeing a bunch of fancy newborns running around playing makes it all worth while.The real word cattle business is far from what happens in the show ring.We have been fortunate to have shown some State Fair winners and the feeling from saving a newborn calf makes me feel even better .

 

[leanbeef]

I am about 50% done with around my 50TH calf crop.A,  few things I have learned,the one time you dont check them during the night something will go wrong,If you decide to go somewhere a cow will start calving,anything after two hours from the time the water bag shows and no progress is time for action,breech calves are hard to detect and they say calves are born backwards but the ones we pull
dont come easy.If you dont think a calf has nursed it probably hasnt.Heifers no matter how they are managed need to have calves less than 75#s or less.The worst experience is a PHA calf .I think I have seen most every thing that can happen.Even at my age it is hard to not get tears when you lose one and we all do.Seeing your labor from selection to AIing to delivery can be joyfull to devastating and seeing a bunch of fancy newborns running around playing makes it all worth while.The real word cattle business is far from what happens in the show ring.We have been fortunate to have shown some State Fair winners and the feeling from saving a newborn calf makes me feel even better .

I'll second that!

 

[jsuhr]

I can't agree more! Cowpoke, you are the type of person young agriculturists like my self love to hear stories from. It's all a learning process, some of which come harder than others. The fact that I have seen and experienced more than many if not all of my peers is something to take pride in. The cattle industry builds character and the experiences, both good and bad, are something to cherish and learn from. Frustration and doubt set in but in the end, like many of you have said, the sense of accomplishment one feels when a bunch of newborns are running around is something that brings joy and an indescribable feeling. The reason Steer Planet is so awesome is because people like myself can share experiences with so many awesome people. Thanks for all the great information on this site Jason, and thank you everyone for the amazing advice.  

 

[Limiman12]

We started 0-3 this year.....    The third one was out of a bred heifer we had just bought.    That night as I consumed half a bottle of crown my wife asked if it was worth it.  The answer was easy for me to say, but she saw it on my face the next week when we saved a breech.    They never make up for the lost ones, but knowing you saved one sure does help!

 

[leanbeef]

We started 0-3 this year.....     The third one was out of a bred heifer we had just bought.    That night as I consumed half a bottle of crown my wife asked if it was worth it.   The answer was easy for me to say, but she saw it on my face the next week when we saved a breech.    They never make up for the lost ones, but knowing you saved one sure does help!

Dang, that's a rough start! I always take it hard when I lose one, regardless of whether or not there was anything I could have done to save it. We've had a pretty good spring, both at home and in the herd I manage...lost one in two inches of snow and had a set of twins, so I'm even!

 

[willow]

I can't agree more! Cowpoke, you are the type of person young agriculturists like my self love to hear stories from. It's all a learning process, some of which come harder than others. The fact that I have seen and experienced more than many if not all of my peers is something to take pride in. The cattle industry builds character and the experiences, both good and bad, are something to cherish and learn from. Frustration and doubt set in but in the end, like many of you have said, the sense of accomplishment one feels when a bunch of newborns are running around is something that brings joy and an indescribable feeling. The reason Steer Planet is so awesome is because people like myself can share experiences with so many awesome people. Thanks for all the great information on this site Jason, and thank you everyone for the amazing advice.  

Jsurh, we are young agriculturists as well and have only been in the cattle business for eight years.  I have learned more in those eight years than from any other experience in my life.  Sometimes it is learned the hard way, but wow those are the mistakes that we have never made again.  Keep it up because agriculture needs young people like you and me.  Steerplanet is great.  Lots of sound advice to be had from some folks on here. 

 

[Tineke]

Sorry for your loss    We had a similar situation a couple days ago.  We knew the cow was in labor, but wasn't making any progress.  We watched her closely all day and most of the night and decided to have the vet come at six in morning to see what's going on.  Well, the calf was coming sideways - a hind hoof and two front hooves were trying to make their way to the birth canal but couldn't.  The vet was able to push the calf around to where the front feet were coming, and pulled it out.  The calf and cow are doing fine now.  The calf is finally nursing on her own today (clapping)

 

[irh]

We've lost 3calves out of 11 cows.  Had a nice 1-80 bull calve, his mother was a Hollywood (Heatwave) that won't let him suck.  We can't get him to take the bottle or suck into the bucket,  but he runs around.  What a year!!!  We are blaming alot of this on the drought in the hay and pastures with high nitrates.  Got some good calves got 3 more to calve.  We will be glad when this calving  season is over.  Oh! we had a c-section also.