Major birthing trouble

[Aaron]

He posted shortly after I did and then deleted it, which caused my 2nd reply to him to be deleted.

They shot the cow and the vet eventually did show up afterwards to offer insight.

 

[ez14.]

He posted shortly after I did and then deleted it, which caused my 2nd reply to him to be deleted.

They shot the cow and the vet eventually did show up afterwards to offer insight.

And what did they find?

 

[Aaron]

He posted shortly after I did and then deleted it, which caused my 2nd reply to him to be deleted.

They shot the cow and the vet eventually did show up afterwards to offer insight.

And what did they find?

Sounded like a malpresentation that was left too long.

 

[slick4591]

He posted shortly after I did and then deleted it, which caused my 2nd reply to him to be deleted.

They shot the cow and the vet eventually did show up afterwards to offer insight.

I had wondered about that. Thought I musta been dreaming that post.

 

[Aaron]

He posted shortly after I did and then deleted it, which caused my 2nd reply to him to be deleted.

They shot the cow and the vet eventually did show up afterwards to offer insight.

I had wondered about that. Thought I musta been dreaming that post.

Me too. It was gone so fast I wasn't sure I had actually posted it.

 

[angus9259]

To the point of some of the harsher posters, I've never had a malpresentation that required killing the cow except my first when I didn't know what I was doing.

 

[Aaron]

Nearly every malpresentation can result in killing the cow if you sit on your butt for days-on-end waiting for her to do it herself.

Ever watch Dr. Pol?...amazing some people are able to survive themselves, let alone care for animals.

 

[Silver]

I had to shoot a cow for malpresentation once, it haunts me to this day. Head was back and I couldn't reach it to get a snare on it. Worked on her til I was near exhaustion. Did a c-section and couldn't get a leg as the calf was faced the wrong way and I just physically couldn't get it turned. Cow went into distress, I was beat. Realized there was only so much I could do and the rest of the cows might need my services. It's something I'll never forget, but at least I know I did my damndest.

 

[wbvs58]

With situations like this you really have to be there to help, already people have made many varying suggestions and all are possible on the information given. Yes, you learn from experience and exploring.

Ken

 

[Lucky_P]

Even if not left long, a malpresentation can end up with killing - or needing to kill - the cow.
Had a heifer last spring who went into labor some time during the night; big calf with a simple front leg back... easy enough to correct, but already the calf was becoming emphysematous, and she was apparently the only heifer in that group with a small pelvis, as all others calved out uneventfully.
Wife and I are both seasoned veterinarians... it was a difficult deal pulling the calf out a little at a time, and I came very close to stepping up to the house to get a gun, but Dr. M is much more diligent than me, and she persisted... we ended up doing a fetotomy, and took the calf out in about 6 pieces. Heifer survived... looked like lleh, but she recovered and sold last fall - open, no surprise to me - but somebody thought she looked like one to take a chance on... she brought nearly twice what the older open culls sold for.

 

[SchenkAngusFarm]

The reality is some cows just die even if you work your hardest to save them. Animals die just like people.

The best cattlemen I know lost several this past year to pneumonia. You can be the best cattleman in the world and sometimes it happens. It can come from a million different angles and reasons.

I've been a cattlemen a lot longer than I've been on this board but I hope this place remains a place to help people. I think we all want the best for each others herds and animals.

 

[Kell-inKY]

No, I wasn't run off (though I rarely visit this site anymore).
Yes, those were hard words to hear, but I'm a big boy and am not above taking advice, that's why I posted on here.
Yes, I jumped the gun and put her down, the vet said she may have been saveable, I regret that and it still bothers me on several levels. I think I needed a little hindsight before posting a response, that's why I deleted my post, it wasn't anything bad by any means, just felt awful even commenting on it. I hate screwing up.

Lastly, in no way did I leave her out there for a day knowing she was in trouble.
I noticed on New Years Eve she had started calving, she was older and I had never had any trouble from any of my heifers, let alone a cow so we left and went to a friends family party and stayed well past midnight. When I saw her the next morning she was suffering pretty bad, bleeding out of a rectal prolapse I think it's called, which were delivered, but calf was not. This was not something I expected (no legs hanging out, no partially delivered calf I could pull on) and I waited for advice as long as I could but not long enough obviously. I will be prepared next time for trouble. This was a pretty old cow which I had trouble with from the get go, very cagey, very hard to load, hard to get in the chute, should have never bought her but that's another story. A hard lesson, but a lesson learned all the way around.

Thanks to all who tried to help.

 

[True Grit Farms]

You've already learned a lot, and passed some information to the next person.

 

[Bright Raven]

No, I wasn't run off (though I rarely visit this site anymore).
Yes, those were hard words to hear, but I'm a big boy and am not above taking advice, that's why I posted on here.
Yes, I jumped the gun and put her down, the vet said she may have been saveable, I regret that and it still bothers me on several levels. I think I needed a little hindsight before posting a response, that's why I deleted my post, it wasn't anything bad by any means, just felt awful even commenting on it. I hate screwing up.

Lastly, in no way did I leave her out there for a day knowing she was in trouble.
I noticed on New Years Eve she had started calving, she was older and I had never had any trouble from any of my heifers, let alone a cow so we left and went to a friends family party and stayed well past midnight. When I saw her the next morning she was suffering pretty bad, bleeding out of a rectal prolapse I think it's called, which were delivered, but calf was not. This was not something I expected (no legs hanging out, no partially delivered calf I could pull on) and I waited for advice as long as I could but not long enough obviously. I will be prepared next time for trouble. This was a pretty old cow which I had trouble with from the get go, very cagey, very hard to load, hard to get in the chute, should have never bought her but that's another story. A hard lesson, but a lesson learned all the way around.

Thanks to all who tried to help.

When someone figures out how to get through life with ZERO errors, I hope they don't charge too much money for the secret.

 

[dun]

When you need a vet and don;t have any expectations of getting one and you've exhausted your abilities and resources, if the animal is suffering putting her down would be the right option.
We've all been in that boat, at least a lot of us have. And there is always regrets because of the "if onlys".

 

[Ky hills]

No, I wasn't run off (though I rarely visit this site anymore).
Yes, those were hard words to hear, but I'm a big boy and am not above taking advice, that's why I posted on here.
Yes, I jumped the gun and put her down, the vet said she may have been saveable, I regret that and it still bothers me on several levels. I think I needed a little hindsight before posting a response, that's why I deleted my post, it wasn't anything bad by any means, just felt awful even commenting on it. I hate screwing up.

Lastly, in no way did I leave her out there for a day knowing she was in trouble.
I noticed on New Years Eve she had started calving, she was older and I had never had any trouble from any of my heifers, let alone a cow so we left and went to a friends family party and stayed well past midnight. When I saw her the next morning she was suffering pretty bad, bleeding out of a rectal prolapse I think it's called, which were delivered, but calf was not. This was not something I expected (no legs hanging out, no partially delivered calf I could pull on) and I waited for advice as long as I could but not long enough obviously. I will be prepared next time for trouble. This was a pretty old cow which I had trouble with from the get go, very cagey, very hard to load, hard to get in the chute, should have never bought her but that's another story. A hard lesson, but a lesson learned all the way around.

Thanks to all who tried to help.

Glad that you are still posting on here. I would venture to say most of us have had cattle situations similar to that where we second guess what we did, I know I have been there. The way I see it if we can learn from an experience, then it's not a complete loss, and may prove valuable for the future.

 

[Bigfoot]

I guess about everything I know in life, was from trial and error.

 

[SchenkAngusFarm]

No, I wasn't run off (though I rarely visit this site anymore).
Yes, those were hard words to hear, but I'm a big boy and am not above taking advice, that's why I posted on here.
Yes, I jumped the gun and put her down, the vet said she may have been saveable, I regret that and it still bothers me on several levels. I think I needed a little hindsight before posting a response, that's why I deleted my post, it wasn't anything bad by any means, just felt awful even commenting on it. I hate screwing up.

Lastly, in no way did I leave her out there for a day knowing she was in trouble.
I noticed on New Years Eve she had started calving, she was older and I had never had any trouble from any of my heifers, let alone a cow so we left and went to a friends family party and stayed well past midnight. When I saw her the next morning she was suffering pretty bad, bleeding out of a rectal prolapse I think it's called, which were delivered, but calf was not. This was not something I expected (no legs hanging out, no partially delivered calf I could pull on) and I waited for advice as long as I could but not long enough obviously. I will be prepared next time for trouble. This was a pretty old cow which I had trouble with from the get go, very cagey, very hard to load, hard to get in the chute, should have never bought her but that's another story. A hard lesson, but a lesson learned all the way around.

Thanks to all who tried to help.

Glad that you are still posting on here. I would venture to say most of us have had cattle situations similar to that where we second guess what we did, I know I have been there. The way I see it if we can learn from an experience, then it's not a complete loss, and may prove valuable for the future.

It's a great point Ky Hills. If you haven't had a regret at some point you probably haven't worked with cattle much or you're just the luckiest person on earth.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Lord knows I've made my fair share of mistakes, lived through a few regrets, learned from some bad experiences. That's life.
Any of us who have dealt with livestock, or animals in general, long enough, we will have some negative experiences.

Sorry that you lost the cow, but you gained experience and more knowledge so it wasn't a total loss.

As for "harsh" remarks, I haven't seen any yet, on this thread. If they are there, then I missed them. All I've read is people talking about reality. If any of that is considered harsh, good thing they don't live in my area, because that's just normal conversation, and 1 of the "biggest" cow vets in our area sure doesn't sugar-coat anything and he has no hesitation letting people know what he thinks, and yes, I have found him to be a bit arrogant at times but he knows his stuff and I'd rather have knowledge & experience than good bedside manner, but then again, I think I may be considered "old school" and "politically incorrect" anyhow.

 

[Bright Raven]

1 of the "biggest" cow vets in our area sure doesn't sugar-coat anything and he has no hesitation letting people know what he thinks, and yes, I have found him to be a bit arrogant at times but he knows his stuff and I'd rather have knowledge & experience than good bedside manner.

My vet uses the same approach. Some of the stories he tells is unbelievable.