Uterine torsion night

Wow - I've seen two births in two days! This one was not as easy for the cow ... she'd been laboring since morning, but she wasn't dilating or progressing. She was tired and weak. Kris called the veterinarian to see what he thought was wrong.

Russ, our regular vet and friend, came and checked her out. He put on the long glove, cleaned her up, palpated her and immediately said, "It's uterine torsion." That means that her uterus has twisted and there's no way the calf can come out.

Russ let my sons and me feel her, too. I guess we'll all be ready next time we need to make a diagnosis.

Russ said that the new vet in their clinic - it was his first week - was coming. He said, "Don't tell him it's uterine torsion! We'll let him make the diagnosis."

Nick came with his fiancee Karen, who's also a vet. He felt around and made the correct diagnosis. We all cheered.

They told me how you correct a uterine torsion. You turn the cow around, while holding the uterus in place, and it effectively untwists her uterus.

It took some figuring deciding which way was the untwist direction. My dad went to get a long board to brace the calf/uterus part of her.

The vets gave her a bottle of calcium through a needle in her neck to help her in her muscle recovery.

Russ said to Nick, "Do you want to do the surfing?" That's apparently vet lingo for, "Do you want to stand on the board we're placing on the cow?" He did.

Note - the cow was right by the road. Kris said he didn't want to chase her into the barn earlier because she was weak. So, by this time quite a crowd had gathered. Friends, strangers, family members ... the uterine torsion show is on!

Kris, my dad, and the vets started turning her while holding the board in place. She didn't resist. 

Nick palpated her afterward and ... it had turned! We were all so happy.

Now it was time to pull out the calf. He went inside her and placed the chains around the calf's feet.

They pulled. She wasn't dilated, so it took a lot of gentle pulling, because Nick didn't want her to tear.

Then, the big, healthy bull was born!

They sucked out his nose and mouth with a bigger version of the snot suckers they use on human babies.

Hello!

The cow bled a lot at first, but it stopped and she rallied. She licked off her calf and was standing and walking around.

So, a happy ending to the story! With all its twists and turns. Or, fixing them.

Success!

I saw a calf being born today!

I got really lucky. I was writing a blog post and looking out my living room window at the cattle across the road. Right in my line of view I saw a cow with hooves coming out!

I ran outside and watched her. (I was hoping the people in cars driving by didn't take note of my hurried ensemble of a blue jacket, green shorts, and red shoes. Nothing odd going on here! Just a rainbow standing in a field!)

She would stand, lay down, and push. Eat some grass. Stand, lay down, push. Look at me, wondering what I was doing in her birthing room. 45 minutes passed. The rest of the cows became interested in me and started to come over to lick my clothes and skin.

I couldn't tell if she was progressing, but then she stood up and I saw that the calf's head was out.

I called Kris and asked if this was okay or if I should try to pull the calf. He said that it was fine and that if she was standing up and I tried to pull it, she'd run away from me. He said he'd be over in a few minutes.

She laid down, gave a few hard pushes, a quiet moo-an, and out slid the calf!

I can hardly tell you how excited I was! (And still am, really. Made my day.)

The calf was quiet and still. The mother - she was a good one who knew what to do - immediately started licking it to stimulate and dry it. The calf started breathing and bawling.

She really went to work on this calf. A few other cows gathered around and helped her lick it off. She also ate all the grass around it that had fluid from the birth on it.

Did you know almost all placental mammals eat the placenta of their young? Know what mammals don't? Humans (most, anyway), camels, cetaceans (like whales and dolphins), and pinnipeds (like seals and walruses.) Try to bring that up at your next dinner party!

Kris and Josh came over to check out the new calf. Kris saw it was a bull.

I left her still licking off her calf - she did it for at least 15 minutes - and went inside and told a friend that I'd just seen a calf born! She said, "Great! That's really going to free up your schedule this spring."

It was a record day this year ... EIGHT calves born! But yes, this one is clearly my favorite.