mainegirl
Well-known member
Well, today was a huge learning experience for me. I was home ALONE and had one cow due to have a Walks Alone ET calf last Thursday go into labor. Now y'all are probably thinking okay no big deal. Well I came back to check her and the back feet were hanging out, which I knew then that it needed to come on out of there. Well, the cow is pretty protective and aggressive when she's about to calve so I knew it would be no easy task to get this cow in by myself. So I got everything set up and called the cows in hoping she'd come in with them...haha...WRONG! So, I went out there, bucket in one hand stick in the other for protection. I get halfway between the barn and the cow and here she comes!
Now I am a big girl okay, I don't run. lol Well if someone would have timed me or measured my jump height I'm pretty sure it could have placed at a track meet. Anyway, as I was half way over the gate, she hit my one leg and knocked me off and my side broke my fall and knocked the wind out of me. So, I went to plan B. I called the vet and told him my situation and he pretty much told me everything about a cow having a breech calf and every reason why he couldn't come help me. I know I'm not a vet but I didn't call for an anatomy lesson. I'm in a vet tech program and have seen my share of births, I just needed some assistance.
So, as I'm on the phone with my brother telling him to haul a$$ from school to help, I see she has managed to push the hind end out and finally everything else. I was afraid that after 3 hours of drama the calf was probably dead, then it picked up its head.
Well, while this is going down in one field, I had seen that I had a heifer in labor in the other, which is where my concern lied before I saw back feet coming out of the other one. Well luckily, she came in the barn and I locked her in. ..just in case and went to check on the other cow. So when I saw that breeched calf was okay, I turned my attention to the heifer who was moaning in the barn. I made the decision to get her in the chute and see what was going on. As I felt her, and decided she did, in fact need my help, my brother comes home and helps me jack the calf out. This was the first time either of us have actually done the pulling. Dad is usually the one that does it and we just give an extra hand when its needed. After we struggled for awhile, the calf finally came out and we cleared its airway. Then we had to make sure the heifer was okay because she went down in the chute. After we got her up we put her in a pen with the calf and all efforts led to 2 happy healthy bull calves. The heifer had a dark brownish color calf with a white belly out of I-80 and probably weighs around 85 or 90 pounds. It was also 3 days overdue. The heifer is a JPJ out of a smoke Yahtzee cow. The heifer herself is a dark smoke color. So as relieved as I was I came inside looked at my beautiful bruise on my side (my battle wound) and figured it was all well worth it since the calves are okay and healthy and rewarded myself on a job well done with an ice cold Bud Light
The embryo calf probably wieghs around 95 to 100 pounds. I'm just eyeballing it though I wasn't ready for round 2 just yet. lol We had its full brother come 5 days early and was about 90 pounds so I wasn't totally shocked at its size. Anyway, I thought I'd give everyone a good laugh at my expense. My dad got a hoot out of it when I told him. Iguess because it was his cow. At least I know I can handle it when it happens again.
Now I am a big girl okay, I don't run. lol Well if someone would have timed me or measured my jump height I'm pretty sure it could have placed at a track meet. Anyway, as I was half way over the gate, she hit my one leg and knocked me off and my side broke my fall and knocked the wind out of me. So, I went to plan B. I called the vet and told him my situation and he pretty much told me everything about a cow having a breech calf and every reason why he couldn't come help me. I know I'm not a vet but I didn't call for an anatomy lesson. I'm in a vet tech program and have seen my share of births, I just needed some assistance.
So, as I'm on the phone with my brother telling him to haul a$$ from school to help, I see she has managed to push the hind end out and finally everything else. I was afraid that after 3 hours of drama the calf was probably dead, then it picked up its head.
Well, while this is going down in one field, I had seen that I had a heifer in labor in the other, which is where my concern lied before I saw back feet coming out of the other one. Well luckily, she came in the barn and I locked her in. ..just in case and went to check on the other cow. So when I saw that breeched calf was okay, I turned my attention to the heifer who was moaning in the barn. I made the decision to get her in the chute and see what was going on. As I felt her, and decided she did, in fact need my help, my brother comes home and helps me jack the calf out. This was the first time either of us have actually done the pulling. Dad is usually the one that does it and we just give an extra hand when its needed. After we struggled for awhile, the calf finally came out and we cleared its airway. Then we had to make sure the heifer was okay because she went down in the chute. After we got her up we put her in a pen with the calf and all efforts led to 2 happy healthy bull calves. The heifer had a dark brownish color calf with a white belly out of I-80 and probably weighs around 85 or 90 pounds. It was also 3 days overdue. The heifer is a JPJ out of a smoke Yahtzee cow. The heifer herself is a dark smoke color. So as relieved as I was I came inside looked at my beautiful bruise on my side (my battle wound) and figured it was all well worth it since the calves are okay and healthy and rewarded myself on a job well done with an ice cold Bud Light
The embryo calf probably wieghs around 95 to 100 pounds. I'm just eyeballing it though I wasn't ready for round 2 just yet. lol We had its full brother come 5 days early and was about 90 pounds so I wasn't totally shocked at its size. Anyway, I thought I'd give everyone a good laugh at my expense. My dad got a hoot out of it when I told him. Iguess because it was his cow. At least I know I can handle it when it happens again.
