Yesterday morning, one of my 4 yr old Red Angus cows was in hard labor, so I thought that she would go ahead and have a calf just like she has in years past with no problems. About 1PM my wife calls me at work says I better get home. So, I take off work for a while, and find the cow still struggling to have a calf. Had to end up pulling a red calf out of her; It was dead. Then noticed another leg sticking out...so, ended up having to pull the other one. It was a black heifer, and alive, but very very lathargic. Momma cow was down, and couldnt get up. Tried pulling her tail to get her up, so she could clean her calf up, and finally got her up on her feet, but she was exhausted..tongue hanging out, etc. She did clean up the calf, but the calf was still unable to get on its own feet to suck. After another hour, got some milk replacer mixed up, and got about a cup of milk down that calf, but it was still just laying there, alive, but not moving much. I moved both cow and baby to a shed area, with hay, water, and feed for momma, but she was still having problems standing. Kinda looked like her hip had been injured during the whole ordeal, so she kept wanting to lie down. Tried until about midnight that night, getting that calf to stand and suck but it never did. It was dead this morning. Twins..... I never did like em, still dont!!!
At least I didnt lose my momma cow during that whole thing.
At least I didnt lose my momma cow during that whole thing.
