I saved 2 lives tonight

lonelyfarmgirl · #1 02/25/12, 06:39 PM

One of our cows went into labor. She is a highlander/holstein mix. Small framed though. This is her 2nd calf. BIG bull calf, with his whole leg folded backwards. When I found her, he had one leg out and the front of his head and he was already breathing air and licking his lips. Surprisingly, we herded her into the emergency shed with no problems. She walked right in.

We gated her against the wall, and I spent the next 15 minutes, which seemed like hours working that leg around. At some point, she went down and that made in harder, but once that foot popped out, we both grabbed a leg and yanked that bull calf outta there. When we left them 10 minutes later, he was alert with his head up and she was licking him. I really hope to see him standing within the hour.

Karen in Alabam · #2 02/25/12, 07:03 PM

Good for you! I probably would have freaked out. Can't wait to see pictures.

rancher1913 · #3 02/25/12, 07:06 PM

you did good, sounds like you had preplaned a little to have a place to work on her.

myersfarm · #4 02/25/12, 07:10 PM

YOU did good...the first time i did that up to both shoulders the contractions I thought would break my arms

ksfarmer · #5 02/25/12, 07:21 PM

Good job. Sure gives you a good feeling to know you did it, doesn't it.

bama-newsteader · #6 02/25/12, 07:45 PM

Congratulations! Hope to see some pics!

commonsense · #7 02/25/12, 08:16 PM

Nice job!! congrats on a healthy calf!

tinknal · #8 02/25/12, 08:23 PM

Good job. Straightening out a bad presentation and having a good outcome is one of life's little victories.

lonelyfarmgirl · #9 02/25/12, 08:30 PM

I thought she was going to break my hand, because she wouldn't stop pushing. Every time I made progress, she pushed and undid it. Plus, I had to hold the babies mouth closed at the same time. because he was already breathing air, his tongue was out, and I didn't want him to bite it off, I stuffed his tongue back in his own mouth and held his beak shut. I did take a picture with my phone. I have not yet tried to put phone pictures on the computer, but I will take the regular camera out there. I am getting ready to go check on him now.
Hopefully he is standing and nursing.

Calfkeeper · #10 02/25/12, 08:39 PM

Awesome! It's so rewarding when you are able to do that; save their lives. Gives you a great feeling.

lonelyfarmgirl · #11 02/25/12, 10:36 PM

Well, he's up, but I do not believe he had nursed. I gave him a shot of Dex to prevent swollen tongue, due to the rough handling. He also drank 2 quarts of powdered colostrum out of a bottle. His sucking is good at this point. Hopefully it will be enough of a boost to get him through till morning and he will be ready to drink off momma by then. I'll get some photos up tomorrow. I'm slimy and too tired to mess with it tonight.

allenslabs · #12 02/26/12, 12:01 AM

Oh best of luck! Sounds like you did a great job in what I would consider a crisis situation! Congrats on that one!!

DamnearaFarm · #13 02/26/12, 06:07 AM

Hope he's nursing soon. Sounds like it was a heckuva night.

tinknal · #14 02/26/12, 09:43 AM

In the future if you want to know if a calf has nursed put your fingers in his mouth. If he has nursed his mouth will be warm, if not it will be cold.

MO_cows · #15 02/26/12, 10:17 AM

Congratulations on handling a bad situation! Hope the calf starts nursing on its own soon. At least he's up and going, and had some colostrum, so that's half the battle.

lonelyfarmgirl · #16 02/26/12, 12:33 PM

This morning, I don't think he had nursed. At about 11am I took him a bottle, and his mouth was warm, but it was obvious he had not. He drank the whole bottle right down. Still acting hungry, so I shoved him at mom's udder. He tried several times. She keeps kicking him in the face, then he wondered off.
Later this afternoon, we are going to restrain her in the gates and have him get behind her. I think if he can just get some of that pressure relieved she will let him.

Faith · #17 02/26/12, 12:39 PM

Congrats! I hope he starts nursing soon.

Citychick · #18 02/26/12, 06:49 PM

Congrats, hope she takes him soon.

lonelyfarmgirl · #19 02/26/12, 10:09 PM

Well, I think he may have got ahold of one of the front quarters. I went in there tonight and restrained her and yanked around on her udder until her violent kicking subsided to annoyance kicking. One of the fronts seemed down a little and the other three, when I squeezed them, the milk shot out like faucets.
I put my hands covered in her milk in his mouth and rubbed it all over her udder, plus, it squirted all over her legs. Hopefully after messing with her for a while and getting some of the pressure relieved, she'll be more inclined to let him nurse. I did give him a partial bottle. Re evaluate in the morning.

haypoint · #20 02/27/12, 09:01 AM

Congrats!
Now hopefully you can keep them happy and healthy.
I think it is worth mentioning thaat when you are getting that leg up where it belongs, great care should be excerised to protect the uteris from the calf's hoof. Good to lay out the afterbirth to make sure it all came out.