Pulling calves

[Dave]

I have a friend from church who is an electrician. He is about to retire in a few months. Sunday he said that next year he would like to come and spend a night to help me with night calf check and pulling calves. I told him I don't do night checks and it has been a couple years since I had to pull a calf. His reply was boy you are lucky. He said that several times. I am sure he has heard calving horror stories. He lives in town in Baker and has for 30+ year. Was raised in a fishing town over on the coast. Just went to his first branding last year. I think I should go to church on Sunday and ask if he would like to hear some calving horror stories because I have a few but I don't think he knows they aren't an everyday occurrence.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I went to a farm auction last Saturday. It had mostly cattle equipment. They had tried to make it raising show cattle.
I thought I missed a good buy their calf jack brought $20 , but it might have been because it had a 3” bow in the shaft. I’ve jacked out some big calves but I don’t think I’ve ever come close to bending the calf jack

 

[Ky hills]

I went to a farm auction last Saturday. It had mostly cattle equipment. They had tried to make it raising show cattle.
I thought I missed a good buy their calf jack brought $20 , but it might have been because it had a 3” bow in the shaft. I’ve jacked out some big calves but I don’t think I’ve ever come close to bending the calf jack

I don’t know but I’d say if it’s club calf type cattle, that puller likely got a lot a use.

 

[Dave]

This guy at his first branding last asked why they didn't cut a calf. One of the cowboys replied because it was a heifer. Lived and raised his kids in a town surrounded by cattle ranches. Even did electrical for ranchers but obviously never paid much attention to what goes on at a ranch. But he has a nice boat and takes me fishing a couple of times a year. And he is a real nice man and a good one to call a friend.

 

[gcreekrch]

I just use 30 feet of tight braid poly rope, chains, the heifer and a post or panel. Have used an actual calf puller twice in 3 years.
We likely pull more heifer’s calves than we need to but live calves are worth a fair bit and dead ones are hard to sell.

 

[Nick Wagner]

Here’s one for you Dave. I watched a vet bring a calf out in pieces one time, a Hereford cow bred to a Maine-Anjou. Early ‘70s. Left an impression on me. I’m guessing Doc was never taught cesarean section, would be a number of years before I heard of it either. Dad had five cows bred artificial that time, I think we had two live calves from the experiment.

 

[regolith]

Here’s one for you Dave. I watched a vet bring a calf out in pieces one time, a Hereford cow bred to a Maine-Anjou. Early ‘70s. Left an impression on me. I’m guessing Doc was never taught cesarean section, would be a number of years before I heard of it either. Dad had five cows bred artificial that time, I think we had two live calves from the experiment.

there are still times when bringing a calf out in pieces is more appropriate than cutting the cow.
I'm not sure if I've seen more than one cesar done in my career. Several days after the cow calved; she'd had a missed twin that was too gassy to pull out the normal way. And about every time I remember it I'm thinking that cow shouldn't have been cut open if it could possibly have been avoided... she died the following night.

This thread just brought up a recollection of some older guy at church rolling up his sleeves and offering to come to the farm and help me pull out those calves...
Heck no! Herd of Jersey cows I expect 97%plus to lie down and spit them out all on their own; the other three percent I rarely need an assistant for and if I do need one, it'll be a trained vet.
I had one brought out in pieces once... other than the inside out calf the first year I had my herd this was some 5 years later. I don't remember why, I do remember though burying my dog in company with that calf plus a giant rat he'd caught the day he ran into a car, so that they could all go live in the clouds together. The dog, at least, should have been happy with the company.

 

[Silver]

I’ll probably jinx myself by saying it but I’ve never had to have a calf come out in pieces. But I have been involved in a fair few c-sections over the years. In fact two so far this year, on heifers which I find odd because I’m using the same heifer bulls for the 3rd year and the last two years the heifers calved easy.
I probably pull more calves than a lot of folks, but a lot of the time it’s convenience. As in I want to have a nap, and not worry about this heifer, or any number of reasons when calving is busy and you just want to tie up loose ends.

 

[Dave]

I have taken 2 out in pieces. Both calves had been dead for a while. I wouldn't advise this for a person with a weak stomach

I told him that it had been several years since I pulled one. I remembered a couple from last year. None of them were real pulls. One with a leg back. Once I got the leg straight I just gave a little tug as he had been on his way for a while. One of the others was calving in a cattail patch. The calf was hung up against the cattails. Just turned the calf a bit, mashed some cattails down, and gave a little tug. I am sure if she would have stood up the calf would have fallen out. The third was an old thin Char cow. She was just laying there taking a break. Calf was half out. The next time she pushed I gave a tug and we had the calf out. She just needed a break. It has been a couple years since I needed the chains to pull one.

 

[kenny thomas]

A tip for working on a rotten one. Fill your nostrils with Vaseline so you cant smell it. Its safe and blows out when you finished. Vicks Vapor Rub works too but it's a little strong for some people.

 

[Dave]

One that I took out in pieces. I was to take a friend into the hospital for a hip replacement. So I went out to feed in the dark (it was early December). I smelled something bad. Shined the flash light on a cow in the corral. Just a head out. Ran and got gloved up. Into the chute with the cow. Reached in to straighten the legs out. First leg came off in my hand. Second leg came with both shoulders and the ribs. Followed by about 10 gallons of very foul liquid which spattered all over me and my brand new chute. This was the first cow in the chute, Got a hold of the spine which brought the pelvis along. Then each of the hind legs. Gave the cow a big blast of LA200. Ran to the house for a quick shower and clean clothes. Drove like a mad man to pick Dan up and delivered to the hospital in time.
The rest of the story. Dan and I both came down with pneumonia at the same time about a week or so later. We are certain we caught it at the hospital. I know this was in December because Christmas wasn't any fun that year.

 

[Nick Wagner]

I go years between pulling calves, did find a dead heifer with the calf half out a few years ago, it’s not a perfect world. I had my fill pulling calves growing up, try to avoid those bulls today. About ten years ago, had two rotten calves, much as Dave described, the same year I discovered poison hemlock growing here. Hard to believe there wasn’t a connection between the two events.

 

[Ky hills]

Quite a few years ago, I had to have a vet out with a registered Charolais cow, calf was dead and vet ended up taking it out in pieces. That’s thankfully my only experience with that.
Around that time a couple years earlier had another Charolais heifer that I’d bought bred, that the vet did a C section on. I was still in school at the time. I’d bought some bred heifers from another breeder and they were not as good disposition as I like.
They saved the calf and I ended up bottling it as the heifer wouldn’t claim it and nobody was going to get around her to make her. I culled out that entire group of heifers fast as most were duds.
When I had some registered Angus cattle maybe 12-15 years ago. Had a cow that had had 2-3 calves prior and she had noticeably gotten extremely big. I thought she was going to twin. I’d never seen anything like that as big as she’d gotten. As time went on I thought well I’ve seen cows have twins and not be too unusually big sometimes can’t predict it at all. I was pretty worried. When she finally did start to calve after a little while I knew I was going to have to pull the calf.
I got her in and realized pretty quick I wasn’t going to be able to pull that one. I got some neighbors that are real experienced with cattle to see what they could do and they decided they couldn’t either after trying and so I called a vet. Of course it was in a Sunday which is why I didn’t call the vet first.
Vet came out and I told him we’d tried and couldn’t and he just had to try himself. He realized he couldn’t so he and his assistant did a C section.
It was an absolute freak thing. He said that the calf would weight well over 200#
The afterbirth alone was probably 100#.
Of course the calf was dead. Vet said it was hydrops. Something where if I remember something goes wrong with the amniotic fluid, and the calf is filled with it and so was the cow. The afterbirth had the consistency of rubber.
The cow was dead too, by the next morning. Vet said it wasn’t genetic and it was just one of those freakish things that happens once in a while, but very rare.
If I remember right he said that it was a first for him to actually see one like that too.
Then probably around 6 years ago I bought Santa Gertrudis heifer, and at the time had a registered Hereford bull that I’d bought through a regional registered Hereford sale. Bull was promoted as a sleep all night sure fire heifer bull. I don’t know much about Hereford pedigrees and while his top side was a proven calving ease sire from Canada his dams side was US club calf show type Herefords.
Fire and ice mating and he took after his mother. I also made another mistake by not having my handful of heifers pelvic measured. My thinking was that all but one were home raised and I’d had a good run of calving success with similar genetics for several years, then the the bought Santa Gertrudis heifer I figured would be ok because my other Brahman influenced heifers had done fine.
Ended up having a problem in both ends.
Found out the hard way that the bull was not in fact a heifer safe bull by any means, The heifer either wasn’t developed inside big enough or she didn’t dilate which our vet calls ring womb.
It took right at 4 hours to get the calf out
I could barely could get my hand in to get to the legs enough to get a chain on the legs.
Progress was so slow could hardly tell there was any
At some point I figured it might be better on the cow to get a vet, it was well after hours and by the time we got a call back we’d made enough progress that the calf was coming so we were able to not have a vet bill. Some how the cow and calf both lived. I was really surprised to get a live calf out of it, The pair did fine afterwards but I sold the cow as a pound cow after her calf was weaned so as not to deal with that again
I won’t even attempt to tell my sheep and goat lambing experiences. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to forget a few of those.