Trouble calving!

[charlie01]

One of my shorthorn heifers had trouble calving. The calf had his head and one leg out, which are very swollen.
It is morning and the calf is still alive, the swelling on the head has gone done a bit but the leg is pretty much the same.
What should i do?

ps. the mum is fine she tries to get up and then sits done.

 

[hillsdown]

Did she calve or is the calf still in her :?

 

[Anonymous]

I sure hope that calf is out.

 

[wbvs58]

Charlie, if it is still stuck you need help fast. The head needs to be pushed back in so you can reach down to get that leg up. Drugs may be requied to relax things so this can be done more easily.
Ken

 

[Isomade]

:shock: yes you need help

 

[regolith]

Well, that's exactly what was going on with my heifer this week - but she wasn't so lucky, she had calving paralysis and couldn't get up.

Bring her in to a vet bail if you've got one, have a feel inside for the other leg and as wbvs said, you may need to push the head back in to make room to try and bring the leg up into the correct position. Once both legs and the head are there, the calf can be pulled straight out.
If you haven't successfully corrected the position after 15 - 20 minutes, you probably need a vet. Chances are you'll need one anyway. Swollen head and active cow is not the greatest recipe for success.

If either of her hind legs look odd/unbalanced you can give her anti-inflammatory to ease the paralysis and be careful to keep her off slippery surfaces for the next few days.

Good luck.

 

[jilleroo]

I think he means they pulled the calf out. If the heifer still hasnt got up, he needs to get some colostrum milked out of her and into the calf, if he hasnt already done so.

 

[dun]

I think he means they pulled the calf out. If the heifer still hasnt got up, he needs to get some colostrum milked out of her and into the calf, if he hasnt already done so.

That's pretty much what I figured when he said the head sweloling was down. That isn;t going to happen hanging out of the cow unless the calf is dead.

 

[hillsdown]

To be fair no one has any idea as to what the heck this poster was trying to say or ask . :roll:

 

[charlie01]

The calf is out of the cow. the calf was a big one so it got stuck with it's head and leg out of the back of the heifer.
The leg and head are swollen.

 

[dun]

The calf is out of the cow. the calf was a big one so it got stuck with it's head and leg out of the back of the heifer.
The leg and head are swollen.

Did you get colostrum into the calve, is the cow up yet?

 

[charlie01]

No the cow isn't up yet, we have been getting the calf to suck from the mother.