C-section

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uplandnut

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I was involved in the first c-section I have ever seen this morning. While helping the neighbors on there dairy farm the owner checked a cow that didn't seem right and called the vet. Vet tried for quite a while to get the head up but couldn't quite get it, even using a torsion tool. So the decision was made to do the c-section. After watching the procedure it sure seems like a very straightforward process. By no means am I saying I would want to do one by choice. After seeing that I would assume the most common cause for a cow to go down is bleeding after they are closed up. It was amazing to see how fast the uterus started to shrink after getting the calf out. Crazy how much the uterus stretches with the calf inside. Definitely have to be fast at stitching.
 
Gotta say... it's amazing. Heifer in a stanchion, chewing her cud, left side opened from top to bottom with a slice two feet long, calf comes out and after some stitching of the uterus the vet uses a garden hose to wash the cow's abdomen out.

She didn't breed after that so we ate her. I was wondering if there would be scar tissue on the plate but never saw anything unusual.

Fascinating...
 
She didn't breed after that
We've had 1 C-section and it was on a heifer after a neighbors' bull got into the pasture (common theme in my world). Calf was dead but the heifer made a full recovery. Really wanted to keep her as a retained/replacement heifer but my vet advised against it because of the strong possibility she wouldn't breed back, maybe not at all. Could she have been a great cow? Maybe. But too many other good ones to take the chance.
 

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