Calf born backwards

[adria]

Hi there,

I had a Black Angus heifer that calved with the calf backwards last year. She is ready to calve any day with her second calf, and I was wondering if anyone knows if a backwards delivery would be possible again? Last time she had a lot of rectal swelling and not so much this time, but I was really concerned if it could happen again.
Thanks.

 

[KNERSIE]

It could happen again, but its likely not to happen again. There is no outward signs that you can see now that would indicate the likelihood of a backwards calf.

 

[adria]

I really hope that it doesn't happen again. It was pretty scary last time! The calf was perfectly fine and has matured into a very nice steer. I was just curious if she could have a defect that would have caused it in the first place. The only thing that we could figure was that another cow had agitated her alot by trying to nurse on her. We had to separate her already this year too!

 

[KNERSIE]

Sounds like you need to get rid of that other cow.

Not having enough space for calf to turn into the proper position is what usually causes malpresentations. The cow is hopefully alot bigger this year so that risk will be less of a factor with her second calf.

 

[bigbull338]

just keep your eye on her.just because she had a backwards calf once doesnt mean she will have 1 again.but i would watch her.

 

[randiliana]

It isn't very likely that she will have a backwards calf again. We have had numerous backwards births over the years, and it isn't very often that a cow will have more than one backwards. Having said that, we did have a cow that had several assists in her lifetime. The first assist was backwards, the next was a head back and then she had an upside down calf(they weren't in consecutive years) . So sometimes you can have a cow that for whatever reason, will have malpresented calves.

 

[Loch Valley Fold]

Put her somewhere close to your house & keep an eye on her it doesn't take too much time to check her a couple of times a day

 

[adria]

Thanks for the information.
She calved yesterday morning: labor from start to finish was just under an hour and a half. He's a nice bull calf, much longer in the legs than her last. I am so glad that we did not have a repeat of last year.