Breech Calves

[ffamom]

We had our 1st breech calf. He was 14 days late and huge. I though he might be breech when I watched his movements while in mom. Her whole back end would shake violently when he kicked. I hadn't ever seen this intense type of movement before.

We brought her closer to the house to keep an eye on her. The cow calved on her own in years past, but my 6th sense told me something wasn't right. I watcher her labor (from inside the warm house) until her water broke. I knew we were in over our heads when I saw the dew claws up and the the leg sticking out was the size of a coke can. Thank goodness the high school ag teacher came to lend a helping hand.
With his help, my two boys pulled for about 20 minutes before the calf was born.

Good ending. Big ugly bull calf survived and mother cleaned out nicely.

 

[dun]

If the feet come out first that isn;t breech, it's just backwards

 

[ffamom]

Dun,

Thanks for the correction.

 

[LaneFarms]

whats bad is when you find her out in the field and the only thing out is the calf's tail. We were able to save the cow but not the calf.

 

[dun]

whats bad is when you find her out in the field and the only thing out is the calf's tail. We were able to save the cow but not the calf.

Yup, had one like that a year ago. Came up to the house and called a neighbor to come and help me get her up to the barn and when I went back down (5 minutes later) she had passed the calf. Legs still folded under and dead as a stump.

 

[LaneFarms]

Dun we try to get a hold of the legs and couldn't so our only option was to try and pull from the tail. The tail was too slippery so we decided to leave her in the pen since it was late and call the vet the next morning. Checked next morning and she had delivered. Only thing I could think was when she layed down the calf must have changed positions.

 

[dun]

Dun we try to get a hold of the legs and couldn't so our only option was to try and pull from the tail. The tail was too slippery so we decided to leave her in the pen since it was late and call the vet the next morning. Checked next morning and she had delivered. Only thing I could think was when she layed down the calf must have changed positions.

I figured it was when ours tried to walk to get away from me so she could do her thing in provate that finally got her workingg at it again. I was truly amazed that she managed to squirt that thing out all folded up, it weighed 88 pounds.

 

[LazyARanch]

Dun, did she settle and calve normally the following year?

Man I don't think I'd ever walk normal again if I had one like that! LOL

 

[dun]

Dun, did she settle and calve normally the following year?

Man I don't think I'd ever walk normal again if I had one like that! LOL

She hasn;t calved yet but settled to first service AI

 

[angus9259]

whats bad is when you find her out in the field and the only thing out is the calf's tail. We were able to save the cow but not the calf.

Had one in labor that wasn't progressing and one contraction I saw tail. Put her in the chute - vet said to put my hand on the calve's tail bone and push the calf as far up into the cow as I could and pull the rear legs up from underneath it and pull it out back legs first. My vet described (all this was over the phone) how to torque the leg just right to get the first one out - not sure I did it right but eventually we got one leg and and just couldn't get the other one out. It was brutal - wife holding onto the one leg with a chain around it so we didn't lose it, me pushing the rear end of this calf back up in - finally got a rope around the other leg (inside the mom) but just couldn't get that leg out of the cow. By this time something was going to die so the wife pulled on the rope holding the inside leg while I lifted up on the hoof from inside the cow and got it out. Baby bull was dead - momma lived but I sent her to the salebarn the next day.

 

[LaneFarms]

We tried for what seemed like hours to push the calf in far enough to get a leg but she was obviously stronger than we were. I kept the cow and she calved unassisted last month.

 

[angus9259]

We tried for what seemed like hours to push the calf in far enough to get a leg but she was obviously stronger than we were. I kept the cow and she calved unassisted last month.

In the end, I'm not sure we did the cow or the calf any favors. The vet did warn us that we shouldn't be shy about pushing it straight up to her throat if we needed to. The whole deal is kind of a crapshoot.

 

[wtrapp]

A few weeks ago I had a cow trying to give birth. Front feet showing but no nose. About 30 minutes later no improvement. Got her in the head catch but couldn't feel the head only the shoulders. Vet arrives and can't feel the head either. Wound up having to cut the head off inside the cow using a string saw. If we got 'em we got'em to loose.

 

[angus9259]

A few weeks ago I had a cow trying to give birth. Front feet showing but no nose. About 30 minutes later no improvement. Got her in the head catch but couldn't feel the head only the shoulders. Vet arrives and can't feel the head either. Wound up having to cut the head off inside the cow using a string saw. If we got 'em we got'em to loose.

Haven't had that pleasure yet . . .

 

[regolith]

Got her in the head catch but couldn't feel the head only the shoulders.

That is the hardest situation I come across regularly, usually one or two a year. I nearly always end up having to call the vet to them - breech is a cinch in comparison.
I fixed one this year, live calf, but it was a whole different scenario. Eight year old cow, found her flat out, bloated with milk fever. I stabbed her, called the vet for advice, pulled the calf. The calf wasn't ready to come out and that's why the head kept flopping back - if I'd put a rope on the head right from the start it wouldn't have been a problem. I just couldn't risk the possibility of the cow bloating up again and aspirating fluids.
I culled her the beginning of last month for foot problems - she recovered well from calving and the calf was fine too.

 

[wtrapp]

A few weeks ago I had a cow trying to give birth. Front feet showing but no nose. About 30 minutes later no improvement. Got her in the head catch but couldn't feel the head only the shoulders. Vet arrives and can't feel the head either. Wound up having to cut the head off inside the cow using a string saw. If we got 'em we got'em to loose.

Haven't had that pleasure yet . . .

I must say it wasn't the most fun of the day.

 

[dun]

Last night the dairy had a mess. When they saw the cow in labor she had one back foot out. They messed around with it for hours then I messed around with and we finally got out 3 feet, 2 fronts 1 back and no head. Vet rolled in and it took him less then 15 minutes to get things sorted out and both calves out. Bull and heifer, both alive and rambunctious. Cow is walking pretty darn sore but she's feeding them both.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

The vets can make it look sooooo easy!
I've been told to use a toilet plunger to push the calf back inside the dam. That way, you can kind of hold the calf in with the end of the plunger against you, & frees up your two arms. We haven't tried it yet, but sounds workable.

 

[backhoeboogie]

It seems when you get them shoved back in, finally get a leg out, go back for the next leg, they pull the other leg back in every time. Back and forth. Finally learned to put the calf puller on one foot when I get it out to keep the calf from pulling it back in. Its always harder to get the second leg when your arm is working against the first leg hanging through the birth canal.

I have managed to get one foot between my index and middle finger, the other between my ring and middle finger, and get both feet through. They have to be just right tho and you have to be lucky. Cow contractions and fighting against you. Best to hold the calf in and do your work between contractions if you can.

 

[Faith]

I went down this morning to check the cows. I was later than usual because we had a water valve break when we tried to turn it on and that took awhile to get fixed.

Found one of my older cows in a valley w/ her calf. I knew something was wrong from the beginning, just wasn't laying right. Got down there and rubbed it a bit and done all the usual stuff. Then we tried to help it stand up. It's a heifer calf and I'd guess around 60 lbs at the most. She wouldn't put her back legs under her w/ any weight. They just folded up. One front leg would straighten a bit but the other one would fold up...I've seen that but never seen the back legs act like that.

It looked like she'd had a hard labor and the calf looked a lil worse for wear. I've never had one that came backwards or breech that I've seen and knew about. I was wondering if these symptoms were of a birth like that?

I tubed her w/ some colostrum and gave her a couple of shots. Will check on her in a couple of hours to see if she has stood up yet.