randiliana
Well-known member
Msscamp, I guess, what I should have said that it is possible for the animal to show no or very few signs of calving, at least until it is too late to save the calf. They will eventually, show signs of calving, and may even push the rump of the calf out (same as a calf with a front leg back she may get the head out) if it is small enough. And you are certainly right about knowing how much time the process is taking, that is the biggest indication of a problem!!
The breech calf we had this year, the cow had very few signs of calving. When she finally did progress to where there were signs that she was actually calving, it was too late for the calves (twins) that she was carrying. Both legs were back on the first calf, and when we first saw signs of her calving was when we should have intervened (hindsight you know ;-) ) However, we treated her as though she was having a normal labour, and gave her another 2 hours (from the tail up stage), in which she showed a few signs of progress, 2 hours from the first sign of calving, should really make no major difference to a normally presented calf if you are checking, and know about when her labour started. Unfortunately, being breech, by the time we realized that she had problems, she had probably been calving all morning (5-6+ hours) and the only sign of trouble (other than time) was that the placenta had detached which appeared shortly after the water bag did. The calves were both under 70 lbs, and when we did get the first one straightened out, it literally fell out of her, and the second one was just as easy. The first was dead on arrival, and the second acted as though it would live, but I even gave it mouth to mouth before it gave up. I hate doing that, and I have never yet saved one (I guess they are usually too far gone when I do it)[/quote]
