regolith
Well-known member
gertfan, there was nothing in your post to indicate what wasn't normal about these two breech births.
Correcting a breech can take a little strength and patience, but it's a straightforward procedure. If you can't do it yourself because the cow is pushing against you, the vet can give her an epidural and correct the limbs. If she's dry, you or the vet can pump in large quantities of lube to ease things up. If you got a calf jammed tight an embryotomy or caesarean may save the cow.
A cow checked two to three times a day - it's not ideal, but it should be frequent enough to intervene successfully with a breech or inside-out or upside-down calf and save the cow if not the calf.
Without knowing what exactly was different about your two cows or how many hours the vet has to travel to get to you, it's relatively safe to presume your vet isn't up to the task. One, yes, can happen to any one - but two??
And then we have to wonder why the vet didn't recommend shooting the cows as soon as you both knew that calf wasn't going to come out. The way it's written it sounds as if the vet left and the cows carried on trying to calve.
I saw a Jersey cow have an upside down calf on her own once - tiny wee bull. I saw the nose and eyes coming underneath the feet, ran like crazy to set the gates up back to the shed to bring her in and got back just in time to see it land.
Correcting a breech can take a little strength and patience, but it's a straightforward procedure. If you can't do it yourself because the cow is pushing against you, the vet can give her an epidural and correct the limbs. If she's dry, you or the vet can pump in large quantities of lube to ease things up. If you got a calf jammed tight an embryotomy or caesarean may save the cow.
A cow checked two to three times a day - it's not ideal, but it should be frequent enough to intervene successfully with a breech or inside-out or upside-down calf and save the cow if not the calf.
Without knowing what exactly was different about your two cows or how many hours the vet has to travel to get to you, it's relatively safe to presume your vet isn't up to the task. One, yes, can happen to any one - but two??
And then we have to wonder why the vet didn't recommend shooting the cows as soon as you both knew that calf wasn't going to come out. The way it's written it sounds as if the vet left and the cows carried on trying to calve.
I saw a Jersey cow have an upside down calf on her own once - tiny wee bull. I saw the nose and eyes coming underneath the feet, ran like crazy to set the gates up back to the shed to bring her in and got back just in time to see it land.