cow looks to be in labor

[trip]

i have a cow that yesterday morning looked like she was in labor. she was breathing hard and her backend is all swollen out she has also lost her mucus plug. the thing is she looked like she was contracting for about an hour then she just got up and started grazing she also came down to feed lastnight and she was still swollen out so i thought she would have it lastnight but got up this morning and still no calf. she is not down or anything but she still looks to be having small contractions. what should i do :?:

 

[dun]

Glove up and reach in and see if everything is lined up or for that matter if the calf is even ready.

dun

 

[trip]

i did think about that but i did not want to stress her out if i did not need to. so do you think i should check her or just let her keep trying on her own? she has never done this befor that is what has me scared. she has always had it easy calving and everyother time when she lost her plug she had it not long after.

 

[randiliana]

I would check her out. Unless she is a total nutcase you won't stress her that much, and you will ease your mind. Plus you may be able to save the calf if there is a problem. Could be she is in the early stages of labour, or she could have a backwards calf or one that is otherwise malpresented. Could even be twins. We had one last spring that sounds very much like this one, but by the time we checked it was too late for the calves. One was dead and the other died shortly after birth.

 

[trip]

i guess i will check her because i don't want to lose the calf. thank you for your help

 

[KNERSIE]

Twins would be my guess, also. I had one last year with exactly the same symptoms. After two hours I gloved up and felt a head and two front feet and assumed all was in order. This was the middle of the night and the cow always calved easily in the past.

Waited till the morning and saw apiece of what looked liked placenta hanging out, but no calf. Had the vet out and it turned out to be twins entering the birth canal simultaneously. The one on top normal and a posterior presentation underneath that one. Learned a expensive lesson. Two dead calves and a vet bill to boot.

 

[Chris H]

Agree, check her out ASAP. We had the misfortune this year to have a cow with twins, first one was tail first. Got her in immediately but complications left us with dead calves and a dead cow. Another cow had never had a problem but kept exhibiting signs of labor, then joining the herd. For some odd reason the calf just did not move up into the birth canal. Pulled a dead calf and shipped the cow.

 

[jcarkie]

i had one 2 years ago started calving, older cow never had a problem, and i went to bed and got up the next morning she was acting normal, grazing. she had membrane hanging like she had calved, her uterus twisted and the calf couldn't enter the birth canal. 26 hours after she started the vet pulled the calf, it lived, the cow wouldn't breed back, but calf will calve in march.

 

[Gale Seddon]

i guess i will check her because i don't want to lose the calf. thank you for your help

Trip, hope you had a successful outcome and that you'll let us know what happened, please?

 

[Kelly]

I had a cow last year that never had any problem calving before with the same symptoms... seemed like labor, then would be normal off & on. We ended up losing them to a twisted uterus. Hopefully , things went well for you.