Newborn calf died???

[tripleS]

I had a calf the other night out of a hiefer. I had her up in the barn so I could keep an eye on her. 8:00 her water bag(don't know the scientific name) broke. She started pushing but after an hour she only had two feet out so we pulled the calf around 9:00. Calf pulled pretty easy. The second she came out she started kicking violently.(never seen one with that much energy). I carried her around in front of the chute so the cow would come right out to her. Then the calf quit breathing. I Stuck some straw up her nose and ran my hand in her mouth and she coughed some and quit again. So We hung her upside down over the gate and beat her on the side to make her cough up. She threw up enough fluids (gel-like and clear) to fill a quart jar and then quit breathing again and died. What do ya'll make of it. Did she just swallow too much fluid during birth or get it in her lungs. What are some other things I could have done to try and help?

Thanks

 

[bigbull338]

from what you are saying you did everything right from a quick timely pulling to hanging the calf up and getting fluid outt of its lungs in a quick fashion so as far as i can see the calfs death wasnt your falt you did everything right sounds to me like the calf drowned in the embronic sack to some extent id try grafting a calf to the heifer if you can find 1 sorry bout your lose scott

 

[tripleS]

thanks, and I called every dairy within 2 hours of here to try to find a calf for her. NO LUCK at all. Sometimes you can find half angus half holstien hiefers that you can sell to some small cattlemen that make great cows if you don't mind some white spots. Not for me particularly but they throw black calves. Thanks

 

[bigbull338]

your welcome i know how you feel not being able to find a calf an angus x holstein makes good cows im a retired dairyman scott

 

[Farminlund]

Boy that's some story. You sure did everyting correctly IMO. Sorry for the final outcome, hope some other posts are fothcoming that may explain what happened.

Seems to me that this was some sort of freak situation - hope I never have to experience anything like it

 

[eric]

Is it really necessary to put another calf on a cow whom has had a calf die at birth? This is to help dry up the bag, correct? Or is it to still make money off an inexpensive calf and a cow with lots of milk to give? Would a cow be alright if a new calf wasnt brought in? What would the danger be of letting her dry up on her own?

 

[Bez]

Is it really necessary to put another calf on a cow whom has had a calf die at birth? This is to help dry up the bag, correct?

Eric - it is quite all right to let a cow dry up on her own - it has been so for millenia.

Grafting another calf to a cow is simply a way to squeeze some money out of a "fresh" milk machine on legs.

No it is not to dry up her bag.

The cow pays her way or she goes.

Bez

 

[eric]

Thanks Bez...I've seen many times where folks rush out and buy another calf to put on a cow who lost her calf, just was always curious why. Guess I am with the group that says it's probably better not to bring in newborns from outside of herd, without knowing what diseases it could have and whatnot. But then again, I dont do this for aliving either, having to squeeze out every last dollar or my philosophy might be quite a bit different.

 

[dun]

The only calf I saw pulled that breathed on it's own and quit was from a very hard pull and the diaphragm was ruptured, per the vet.
Persoanlly I don;t like pulling calves in a chute or alleyway. If the cow goes down it can be pretty tough getting them back on their feet. I'll run them in the chute and put a halter and lead rope on them, check to see what's going on in the back, then tie the end of the lead rope to the side of the cute and open it and let the cow come out. Then I'll snug her up fairly tight and start the pulling operation.
Just a thought...........

dun

 

[Beefy]

thats what we do too Dun, except we just use a quick release rope instead of a halter and always get the chains on the feet while shes in the chute. Actually, we dont even put her in the chute, we have a big wooden gate right before the chute on each side of the lane and it has a sliding door there. works out nice not having to back her out of the chute and we can tie her to the telephone pole before we let her out too.