String still out following birth

[herofan]

I had a cow give birth two days ago, and a string is still hanging out almost to the ground, which I believe means the after-birth is still inside. She seems fine. I have looked around the web and have found several suggestions, but would like to hear from people here.

As usual, the information is from both ends of the spectrum. Here is some things I have found.

- needs to be removed as soon as possible or infection will occur
- give it about 5 days before taking action as long as the cow seems ok
- pulling too early could cause problems
- some let it go for two weeks before it fell out, and there was no issue, cow bred back
- if not dealt with immediately, cow could not breed back, and even death could occur
- usually, nature will take it's course and things will be ok
- tie a weight on it to assist with discharge

Any suggestions?

 

[Alan]

After birth, in short I give it a week before I even start thinking about it. Could cause lots of problems if you pull it early.

 

[Kingfisher]

What happens if you snip it shorter?

 

[Nesikep]

if you snip it it could go back inside, which isn't good.. The best advice I've heard is to tie a knot in it.. After about 3 days if it's still hanging I will usually admister uterine boluses which help with the clean out.

If this is a common occurrence for you, check your Selenium levels

 

[gizmom]

You can tie a knot in it don't pull it you can cause major problems with that. If it hangs more than a week I would give a shot of lute to clean them up.

gizmom

 

[dryfork2]

Two days aint nothin mother nature should help before day 4 --5 . Lute works good if you get worried. good balance mineral free choice will really help keep this to a minimum.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We had one for the first time this month. After a week, she was straining and passing some real smelly dark colored serum. Vet said give her a shot of Lute, we did and just a few days later she is fine. No mor straining, no more smell, no more passing nasty stuff!

 

[dun]

If it is dragging on the ground or there is a possibility of it hanging up on brush or seomthing, I tie it back to itself just for clearence. If she isn;t sick, leave it be. At the first sign of her going off feed or being lethargic I would (this is me) go in and see if it's loose enough to just tug not pull it out. Then I would hammer her with some real serious antibiotics (only available from the vet kind)

 

[herofan]

Thanks for the help everybody! I'll give it some more time before getting too worried.

 

[herofan]

The string is gone today. I may start posting even my slightest issues for good luck. The last couple of times that I posted a concern, it seemed to work itself out very shortly afterwards.

 

[M5farm]

Patience will work also.


I lack a good dose of it also.

 

[Nite Hawk]

The quicker the afterbirth comes out the better, but I have seen them hang for a few days with no problems.
Now horses get sick real quick with the retained afterbirth, but cows can go a bit.
I have seen some afterbirths that the farmer didn't bother with for a L-o-n-g time, and it was real gross, stunk real bad and it had to be manually removed, and a bolus put in to combat infection. No excuse to leave it as long as I have seen some farmers let it go, like weeks and weeks.
If it is just hanging a few days later, sometimes oxytocin will help them get rid of it, but use oxytocin carefully and wisely.
Remember, the uterus is an incabator, and it grows other things than calves ( bacteria) if left a mess after calving..