Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2013 15:10:39 GMT -7
When Abby, my dairy heifer died shortly after thanksgiving, Jim offered me any cow or calf on his place to replace er until I decide if I want another dairy cow or if I want to keep the one he offers, I can. I chose Lizzy. I named her when she was still wet from being born, and have always had an attachment to her...she isn't like ANY of the rest of the herd. She is coal black, 3/4 Beefmaster & 1/4 Black Angus and although she is not tame or gentled, she is not aggressive or spooky and allows me close enough to touch her once in a while. Lizzy is a big girl She is 3 years old and weighs between 1200# & 1400#...and is still growing. My vet is very impressed with her to say the least.
We honestly had no idea she was bred, at least not to calve this soon!! We weren't expecting the first calves until late March, but apparently when we first got Charlie and he was 10 months old, he knew what to do, and she got bred...so now we have to watch the rest of the new heifers like a hawk! This is gonna be a long winter.
For my birthday, I stayed up until 6am, then finally went to bed and was asleep at 2pm when I got an urgent phone call. Lizzy was having her first calf. Problem is, it wouldn't come out. Of course I was dressed and at Jims and in the barn in a matter of a very few short minutes. Here are photos with explanations as it happened.
Lizzy had been fine at 7am for her morning feeding, but around 2pm, While feeding hay, Jim noticed a lag sticking out of here where it should not have been, so they locked her in the barn. We have NO idea how long she had been trying to force this little guy out. She was in pretty rough shape.
A closer look reveals this leg is in the wrong position...and there should be 2 legs presenting, NOT 1...this is a back leg. NOT GOOD!
I put a halter on her and Steven & the vet got her toed to a strong barn post...ALWAYS build your stalls with at least a couple of these in mind for use, you never know when you will need them! Dr. Popp cleaned up, gave her an epidural shot, put on an OB shoulder glove, reached in, found the other back leg, got it started, put chains on both ankles and when he couldn't pull it by hand, he had to hook the puller up to her. She was pushing hard every time he cranked the wench to pull, as you can see here. The lasso around her neck is loose and simply a precaution the vet took in case the lead on her halter broke, he had to have a way to get ahold of her again.
After about half an hour of trying, she finally laid down, which gave him the chance to reposition the puller and get a better angle on the calf. You do not want to pull them straight out, the need to come out at a downward angle.
This made things move along much faster. Within seconds he got the hips to clear the birth canal.
Then, poof, the calf was out. His back legs are still chained to the puller, but everything is free from Lizzy.
Little boy never stood a chance. While breach babies can easily make it, his back legs had become wrapped around each other and the umbilical was wrapped around and through them, cutting off all of his oxygen and blood supply. Lizzy's first calf was stillborn. As the vet pointed out, with the price of beef on the open market, There laid an easy thousand dollar profit...lost. There was nothing anyone could have done for him at any point. HE was doomed way before she ever went into labor.
Lizzy lay on her side for a long time and no matter what the guys did, she refused to move. They slapped, her screamed, kicked on her thigh muscles, pulled her halter, everything. She just laid there. I got tired of it, and walked over to her head, squatted down reached under her and got ahold of her jaw and lifter her head and just said "Come on, Lizzy, you gotta get up for me. I can't loose you to". And she rolled up so she was laying on her belly. WHY that worked and nothing else did, I don't know. The vet seemed stunned and amazed to say the least, as well as both Jim & Steven.
After awhile like this, the vet said she needed to get on her feet, so he asked me to get her up. I just walked up to her shoulder and gave her a light pat, and told her to get up and say good bye to her baby. She got up and walked over and sniffed him and made some soft lowing sounds, then the vet removed the calf. Broke my heart to say the least.
He is buried on the back of the property next to Abby. Lizzy is still locked in the barn. We are waiting for her to clean out (pass the placenta), but since she has no calf suckin, the uterus quit contracting which breaks the placenta free, it can take up to if not over 10 days to finish cleaning out because of this. If she is not done by the 8th, the vet will be out on the 9th to check her out. She is a moping a bit (I think she is mourning her lost baby) but she is moving around good, eating & drinking and seems to be doing well so far. She acts like she does NOT want the guys around her, but I can get close enough to feel her ears to check for a fever and touch her nose to check for moisture...so far, all seems well.
Forcing a clean out can actually cause more damage than help since she lost the calf and never got suckled. I prefer to try and let nature take its course instead of giving her a bunch of shots, but only time will tell if this is going to work. At least she didn't hemorrhage & bleed out from getting torn! I called all around looking for a bottle calf to put on her, but could not find one...so we also have to watch her bags, which are huge & engorged, but flowing freely, so maybe with it not being the heat of summer, she will not get an infection or mastitis...maybe.
Soooo...HAPPY FREAKING BIRTHDAY TO ME!
I did get some pretty cool gifts, and taken out to diner to one of my favorite restaurants, so the day did get a little better!
I am indeed considering what kind of milking cow I want to replace Abby with...although I refuse to get another Jersey at this point in time...I just don't think I could handle that right now. I am thinking more along the lines of a milking shorthorn or something like that...maybe. I just haven't made up my mind yet.
We honestly had no idea she was bred, at least not to calve this soon!! We weren't expecting the first calves until late March, but apparently when we first got Charlie and he was 10 months old, he knew what to do, and she got bred...so now we have to watch the rest of the new heifers like a hawk! This is gonna be a long winter.
For my birthday, I stayed up until 6am, then finally went to bed and was asleep at 2pm when I got an urgent phone call. Lizzy was having her first calf. Problem is, it wouldn't come out. Of course I was dressed and at Jims and in the barn in a matter of a very few short minutes. Here are photos with explanations as it happened.
Lizzy had been fine at 7am for her morning feeding, but around 2pm, While feeding hay, Jim noticed a lag sticking out of here where it should not have been, so they locked her in the barn. We have NO idea how long she had been trying to force this little guy out. She was in pretty rough shape.
A closer look reveals this leg is in the wrong position...and there should be 2 legs presenting, NOT 1...this is a back leg. NOT GOOD!
I put a halter on her and Steven & the vet got her toed to a strong barn post...ALWAYS build your stalls with at least a couple of these in mind for use, you never know when you will need them! Dr. Popp cleaned up, gave her an epidural shot, put on an OB shoulder glove, reached in, found the other back leg, got it started, put chains on both ankles and when he couldn't pull it by hand, he had to hook the puller up to her. She was pushing hard every time he cranked the wench to pull, as you can see here. The lasso around her neck is loose and simply a precaution the vet took in case the lead on her halter broke, he had to have a way to get ahold of her again.
After about half an hour of trying, she finally laid down, which gave him the chance to reposition the puller and get a better angle on the calf. You do not want to pull them straight out, the need to come out at a downward angle.
This made things move along much faster. Within seconds he got the hips to clear the birth canal.
Then, poof, the calf was out. His back legs are still chained to the puller, but everything is free from Lizzy.
Little boy never stood a chance. While breach babies can easily make it, his back legs had become wrapped around each other and the umbilical was wrapped around and through them, cutting off all of his oxygen and blood supply. Lizzy's first calf was stillborn. As the vet pointed out, with the price of beef on the open market, There laid an easy thousand dollar profit...lost. There was nothing anyone could have done for him at any point. HE was doomed way before she ever went into labor.
Lizzy lay on her side for a long time and no matter what the guys did, she refused to move. They slapped, her screamed, kicked on her thigh muscles, pulled her halter, everything. She just laid there. I got tired of it, and walked over to her head, squatted down reached under her and got ahold of her jaw and lifter her head and just said "Come on, Lizzy, you gotta get up for me. I can't loose you to". And she rolled up so she was laying on her belly. WHY that worked and nothing else did, I don't know. The vet seemed stunned and amazed to say the least, as well as both Jim & Steven.
After awhile like this, the vet said she needed to get on her feet, so he asked me to get her up. I just walked up to her shoulder and gave her a light pat, and told her to get up and say good bye to her baby. She got up and walked over and sniffed him and made some soft lowing sounds, then the vet removed the calf. Broke my heart to say the least.
He is buried on the back of the property next to Abby. Lizzy is still locked in the barn. We are waiting for her to clean out (pass the placenta), but since she has no calf suckin, the uterus quit contracting which breaks the placenta free, it can take up to if not over 10 days to finish cleaning out because of this. If she is not done by the 8th, the vet will be out on the 9th to check her out. She is a moping a bit (I think she is mourning her lost baby) but she is moving around good, eating & drinking and seems to be doing well so far. She acts like she does NOT want the guys around her, but I can get close enough to feel her ears to check for a fever and touch her nose to check for moisture...so far, all seems well.
Forcing a clean out can actually cause more damage than help since she lost the calf and never got suckled. I prefer to try and let nature take its course instead of giving her a bunch of shots, but only time will tell if this is going to work. At least she didn't hemorrhage & bleed out from getting torn! I called all around looking for a bottle calf to put on her, but could not find one...so we also have to watch her bags, which are huge & engorged, but flowing freely, so maybe with it not being the heat of summer, she will not get an infection or mastitis...maybe.
Soooo...HAPPY FREAKING BIRTHDAY TO ME!
I did get some pretty cool gifts, and taken out to diner to one of my favorite restaurants, so the day did get a little better!
I am indeed considering what kind of milking cow I want to replace Abby with...although I refuse to get another Jersey at this point in time...I just don't think I could handle that right now. I am thinking more along the lines of a milking shorthorn or something like that...maybe. I just haven't made up my mind yet.
