Thought this experience might be helpful to some:
Had to pull a calf on Dec. 4. The calf was coming right but labor had not progressed. We thought the calf had died as it's tongue was sticking out. We made the decision to help the cow. Got the head of the calf out and it blinked. The calf's head was swollen and it's tongue was hanging out but it was already attempting to stand up right after delivery. The calf was able to suck and head swelling is gone. It can put it's tongue inside it's mouth but the tongue does stick out more often than other calves. I have read that the swelling is due to a hard birth where the front legs constrict the jugular vein. Calf is good and healthy.
This is the cow's third calf and third assisted delivery she is Pinzgauer. The second calf was breech. The first and third calf are by different bulls. We are thinking of using another different bull that we have access to that is low birthweight for her. We know this bull sires tiny calves. We do not want to sell her and have someone buy her not knowing the problem as we think it may be her. We know to keep a close eye on her even if breeding to the low birthweight bull. Another reason we are choosing to keep her is that she is very easy to handle.
Here is the calf he is a week old in these pictures.
Had to pull a calf on Dec. 4. The calf was coming right but labor had not progressed. We thought the calf had died as it's tongue was sticking out. We made the decision to help the cow. Got the head of the calf out and it blinked. The calf's head was swollen and it's tongue was hanging out but it was already attempting to stand up right after delivery. The calf was able to suck and head swelling is gone. It can put it's tongue inside it's mouth but the tongue does stick out more often than other calves. I have read that the swelling is due to a hard birth where the front legs constrict the jugular vein. Calf is good and healthy.
This is the cow's third calf and third assisted delivery she is Pinzgauer. The second calf was breech. The first and third calf are by different bulls. We are thinking of using another different bull that we have access to that is low birthweight for her. We know this bull sires tiny calves. We do not want to sell her and have someone buy her not knowing the problem as we think it may be her. We know to keep a close eye on her even if breeding to the low birthweight bull. Another reason we are choosing to keep her is that she is very easy to handle.
Here is the calf he is a week old in these pictures.
