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Tips on Pulling Calves
You hope all your cows and heifers give birth easily, without
problems--and that’s generally the case if you select genetics
with moderate birthweight. But there are still occasions a
heifer or cow needs help, and it pays to know the best ways to
help her. Being able to
recognize normal birth stages helps you judge whether or not she
needs help; it’s important to know how long to leave her
laboring on her own, and when to help. Don’t intervene too soon,
before the cervix is well dilated, or you may injure her by
pulling the calf through that narrow opening. If the cervix is
only partly open, it tends to be pulled out of place (like a
sleeve, pulling conelike ahead of the calf’s head as you pull
him through) and actually restricts the diameter of the opening.
A strong pull or jerking pull may tear it.
Forceful pulling before the birth
canal is ready can cause a ruptered cervix or torn/lacerated
vagina and vulva. The design of the cervix (and the hormones
that affect the cow’s body during labor) program it to open more
fully as the calf’s head presses intermittently on it with each
uterine contraction. A hard, steady pull on a calf can actually
delay this process (if you do have to start pulling a calf
before the cervix is fully dilated, go slow and easy, pulling
only when the cow is straining).
Once the calf is in proper position
and the cervix is more fully dilated, there’s no point in
waiting—if a calf is taking too long to come through the birth
canal. He’s subjected to a lot of pressure from uterine
contractions and the constricted area of the birth canal. Each
time the cow strains, abdominal contractions add to the
pressure, constricting the blood vessels to the uterus,
resulting in diminshed oxygen supply to the calf. If this goes
on for a long time he may be born weak or dead. His head and
tongue may be swollen due to pressure of being in the birth
canal too long. If he’s born in cold weather, he won’t be able
to shiver to keep himself warm if he is short on oxygen. He’s
more at risk for severe chilling or freezing to death than a
calf that had an easier birth. A calf that spends minimal time
in the birth canal will be more lively and strong, able to get
up quickly and find the udder.
WHEN TO
HELP
A little assistance at the right time makes for a healthier calf
and a less-stressed heifer. Research at Miles City, Montana more
than 20 years ago showed that assisting heifers no later than 1
hour after the beginning of active (second stage) labor can
significantly reduce death loss in calves and shorten the
interval between birth and first heat cycle for the heifer. Her
reproductive tract returns to normal more quickly than that of a
heifer left for a longer time in hard labor without assistance.
As a rule of thumb you can figure that each 10 minutes that
delivery is delayed adds another 2 days to breed-back time.
If you wait too long to help her,
she may be exhausted (and unable to strain productively—so you
have to do all the work of pulling the calf) and much of the
lubricating fluid around the calf may be gone, making assistance
more difficult. The vaginal wall may be swollen, making it
harder to put your hand and arm into the birth canal, and
there’s less room to manimpulate the calf if he’s in the wrong
position. If the cervix and uterus have already started to
contract and shrink up, this makes pushing the calf back (to
correct malpresentation) difficult or impossible.
It’s always better to assist
before a heifer is tired and she and the calf are both
compromised. Labor is hard work; she’ll stop and rest between
periods of hard straining. But if she takes more than a 4 or 5
minute break, this is a sign she’s getting tired. If she takes
more than 10 minutes for a rest period, it’s definitely time to
help.
HOW TO HELP
Pulling a calf should only be done when he’s in proper position:
frontward with front feet and head coming into the birth canal
or backward with hind feet coming into the birth canal. If the
head has not yet entered and tends to go off to the side when
you start pulling on the legs, this may mean the calf is a
little too big and needs help to be born. In an adult cow,
having the calf’s head turned back may be an indication of
insufficient uterine contractions (not enough contractions to
stimulate the calf to extend his head and neck) but in a heifer
it usually means not enough room for the head to fit into her
pelvis. Keep one hand on
the head to keep it straight as you pull on the legs. You may
need to put both arms into the birth canal to get the calf
coming properly before you attach chains to his legs. If
necessary, grab his lower jaw to keep the head coming straight.
Once it enters the pelvis it should keep coming as you pull on
the legs. When handling the jaw, don’t use excessive force or
you may break it. If you must move the head, take care that the
calf’s teeth don’t cut the cow’s uterus. Keep your hand between
the teeth and the uterine wall.
You’ll have to break the water bag if it’s not already broken,
so you’ll have room to work. You may need to break the amnion
sac (around the calf) to get chains on his legs. If that’s the
case, and you’ve lost the fluid that makes him slippery and more
easily pulled through the birth canal without friction, use
plenty of OB lubricant. Apply it to your hand and force it in
around the calf as much as possible, to lubricate him and the
birth canal. If you don’t have any on hand, a generous amount of
liquid soap will work, as long as it’s a mild kind of soap.
If we have to assist a birth, my husband and I work as a team,
pulling the calf with chains and handles rather than using a
calf puller. We rarely use the latter except for backward calves
(to give the additional leverage needed to get a backward calf
out fast enough before he suffocates). In almost all other
situations, the strength of 2 people is adequate, and you are
less apt to injure the cow or calf, and you can always pull at
the best angle.
DIRECTION OF PULL
The calf has to come in an arc. He starts from down in the
uterus (very low in the cow’s abdomen) and comes up over her
pelvic brim. When his feet are coming through the birth canal
and starting to protrude from the vulva, pull straight back and
a little upward—from the line of the cow’s backbone. But after
you get his head and shoulders out, change the angle of your
pull and begin to pull a little more downward, toward her legs.
But don’t pull strongly downward until his ribcage is free, or
you will hurt his ribs. His body arcs up and over the pelvis and
down. On a big calf with
wide shoulders, you must move them through the pelvis one at a
time, on a slant. If both feet are out at equal distance, pull
just one leg for a moment until it advances a few inches,
meaning that shoulder has eased into the pelvis. Keep steady
tension on that leg while pulling strongly on the other, to
bring it through also. Once the shoulders are through, you can
again apply traction equally on the legs.
As the ribcage comes through, the
pressure will expel fluid from the calf’s nostrils and mouth,
clearing his airways so that when his ribs expand he can take a
breath. Once the ribcage is free of the vulva, stop pulling for
a moment, so he CAN start to breathe. Constant tension on his
legs at this point will hinder the expansion of his chest and he
may suffocate if the birth is prolonged. Get him breathing, then
finish pulling. Now you can
pull straight down toward the cow’s hocks. In a normal birth,
with the cow lying on the ground in labor, the calf curves
toward her hocks and feet as he slides out. This is what you
need to duplicate when pulling a calf, for easiest delivery and
least trauma to the calf. You want the cow lying down, if
possible, when pulling a calf; if she’s flat on her side with
all 4 legs out straight, she is able strain more effectively
(and her uterus and birth canal are in better position—with
pelvis at the best angle—for the calf to come easily) than if
she’s standing up or resting on her brisket with head up.
STRETCHING THE VULVA
On a hard pull it helps if one person pulls on the calf’s legs
with chains and another stretches the cow’s vulva. We work as a
team; my husband pulls on the calf (since he’s stronger) while I
stand beside the cow if she’s up, or sit beside her hips if
she’s down. I’m facing to the rear and put my fingers between
the calf’s head and the vulva, so I can pull and stretch those
tissues each time the cow strains. Together we pull and stretch
the vulva every time she strains, and rest when she rests.
Stretching the vulva as the head
comes through enables it to come a lot quicker and easier,
especially on heifers that may have a constricting ring of
tissue (persistent hymen) just inside the vulva. As explained by
our vet, Dr. Robert Cope, the stretching or tearing of these
tight bands as the calf comes through is very painful, and some
heifers simply quit straining when this pain occurs. This is one
reason to go ahead and pull a calf, even if his feet are
sticking out, his nose is showing at the vulva, and the heifer
doesn’t seem to be in trouble. By pulling, and stretching the
vulva as the calf is pulled, you hasten what would otherwise be
a long birth. Once the head is out, the rest of the calf comes
easier. If it’s a really big calf or a hard birth, after we get
the head out I then help my husband finish pulling the calf,
taking one of the chain handles to pull on.
TIPS FOR TYING
If you have to tie a heifer to check or assist her, tie
low—fairly close to ground level. If you tie too high, she’ll be
pulling downward as she hangs back on the rope, and be more
likely to end up on the ground while you are still trying to
check her or correct a problem, and you want her standing up for
this. If the rope is tied low, she’s pulling upward against it,
and more likely to remain standing while you check her. If she
goes down, you want the rope tied low; otherwise she’ll be
hanging by her head and you’ll have to untie and reposition the
rope.
IS HE STILL ALIVE?
To tell if the calf is still alive when you are correcting a bad
situation or starting to pull him, see if he responds with a
reflex action when you touch his eye, grab his tongue, stick a
finger in his mouth (or anus, if he’s backward or breech), or
pinch the skin between his toes. A live calf will jerk his foot
when you pinch between the toes, or move his head if you touch
an eye or grab his tongue. A finger in his mouth will create a
suck reflex. A finger in the rectum will stimulate
contraction/squeezing of the anus.
IS HE TOO BIG TO COME THROUGH?
Before pulling, always check to make sure the calf’s head will
fit through the pelvis. If his forehead is hitting the top of
the pelvis, there’s not enough room. You should be able to push
your fingers, or at least a couple of them, over the top of his
head (between the cow’s bony pelvis and his forehead). If so, he
can be safely pulled. But as our vet once said, “If the pelvis
is hitting the calf between the eyes (at eye level), he won’t
fit.” If this is the case, call your vet to come do a C-section.
Dealing with Hiplock When Pulling Calves
Sometimes in a difficult birth, you get the calf partway out,
only to have him hang up at the hips. If the calf is wide in the
hips and the cow or heifer has a narrow pelvis, this makes a bad
combination. The calf’s hipbones are too wide to come through.
In this situation you must try to
take advantage of what little bit of room the cow or heifer has.
Remember that the calf must come up and over the pelvic brim in
an arc. He starts out down in the uterus, quite low in her
abdomen, and must come up and over the pelvic brim. Then his
legs and head aim downward as his body completes that arc.
Therefore, as his body comes out, you should start pulling
downward, toward the cow’s hocks and feet. If you pull him in
this direction (up and over and down) he is more apt to come
readily and not hang up at the hips.
Always get the calf out far enough
that his ribcage is free of the birth canal, however, before you
start pulling sharply downward, or you’ll hurt his ribs. Get him
out past the ribcage so it is free to expand. Then if he
hiplocks and is stuck there for a few minutes as you try to free
him (and the umbilical cord has pinched off in the cow’s
pelvis), he can start breathing, even if his hind end is still
stuck inside the cow. On a
hiplock, make sure the calf’s ribcage is out, and take time to
get him breathing. Stick a piece of hay or straw up his nose to
tickle it so he’ll cough and sneeze and take a breath. Stick
your finger in his ear to make him shake his head to clear his
air passages. Also use some lubricant (obstetrical lubricant is
best, but a mild liquid soap will also work, in a pinch). Force
it in around the calf as far as you can, all the way around him,
with your hand. The more lubricant, the better.
Then pull straight downward toward
the cow’s feet, and pull him underneath her (if she is standing)
pulling the calf between her hind legs. This raises the calf’s
hips higher in the pelvis, to where the cow’s pelvic opening is
the widest. He is then more likely to come through than if you
are trying to pull him straight out and his hips are jammed
against her pelvic bones. If the cow is lying down, pull him
between her hind legs, toward her belly. It also helps to rotate
the calf 45 to 90 degrees. With the calf half turned on his
side, his hips will be coming through the up-and-down axis of
the cow’s pelvis, which has more room than its side-to-side
width. In other words, the cow’s pelvis is deeper than it is
wide. Jeff Hoffman, DVM (a
veterinarian at Salmon, Idaho who raises cattle and also
maintains a busy large animal practice--especially during
calving season when many clients call on his help) says that the
biggest thing about dealing with hiplock is that you need to be
anticipating it and trying to prevent it before you get into
trouble. He likes to rotate the calf before it gets to the hips.
“Any time there is potential for hiplock on a big calf, as soon
as you get the head out, you want to rotate that calf—before he
gets stuck. As soon as that head pops out as you are pulling
him, have a couple people put a half-nelson hold on that calf
and rotate him about 90 to 180 degrees, so the front of the calf
is basically sideways,” advises Hoffman.
“By rotating the front of the calf
that much, you are starting to rotate his hips as well. There’s
more room for his hips to come through the cow’s pelvis on a
diagonal. So if you rotate the front end you are starting to
rotate the calf’s hips so they can come through,” explains
Hoffman. Since the cow’s pelvis is a little deeper than it is
wide, this gives you about the most room to bring him
through—when his hips are on a 45 degree diagonal.
On a really bad hiplock, roll the
cow temporarily onto her back, if you can. If you have the help
of another person, you can each grab one of her legs and roll
her over. If she’s a big, heavy cow it might take several
people. Once she’s on her back, it’s easier to pull the calf
directly between her hind legs, over her udder and belly. Use
lots of lubricant, and give several side to side pulls if
necessary, creating a rotating motion to try to free one hip and
then the other. If you took a moment to get the calf breathing
once his ribcage was free of the vulva, this will buy you the
time needed to get him on out.
Hoffman says that once a calf is
hipocked and stuck, “about the best luck I’ve had on getting
them out is to roll the cow onto her back. Most cows are going
to be down by the time you’ve pulled on the calf that much, even
if they were standing up to begin with. If you can roll her onto
her back, you have all the extra weight of the cow’s abdomen
pushing down on her uterus and calf to help expel the calf.
Also, when you roll her over, hopefully the hind legs of the
calf will flop one way or another in the uterus, and this tends
to rotate his hips so they hit that diagonal to come easier
through her pelvis,” he says.
USING A CALF PULLER TO FREE THE HIPLOCK
If you were using a calf puller when the calf hiplocked, loosen
the tension on the pulling cable, get the calf breathing, and
then roll the cow onto her back with all 4 legs straight up. As
explained by Robert Cope, DVM (a veterinarian who has been in
practice near Salmon, Idaho for nearly 30 years), “With the cow
on her back, bring the puller to an upright position, and
retighten the tension on the cable that’s hooked to the chains
on the calf’s legs, so you are pulling the calf between her hind
legs. With the tension on the cable as tight as possible, bring
the rachet end of the puller toward the cow’s belly, pulling
down toward her head.”
This leverage angle will move the calf’s hips a bit more so the
widest part of his hips will be brought forward before hitting
the smaller part of the cow’s pelvis. Thus the calf’s hips can
more readily get clear of the pelvis as he is pulled across the
cow’s udder and belly, popping him out.
“When the puller rod passes center
and starts down toward the cow’s head, the breech spanner plate
of the puller (that was originally positioned just beneath the
cow’s buttocks and vulva) will slide off the cow and push into
the calf’s abdomen, but it won’t hurt him,” says Cope. “If
anything, it merely helps push him on out of the cow.”
TRY TO AVOID PROBLEMS
Hoffman says, “Worst case scenario, if the calf is totally stuck
and can’t come through, you’ll have a dead calf and must do a
C-section to pull the other half out--after cutting off the
front of the calf—to save the cow or heifer. To avoid this last
resort, if you can see you are getting into a problem it’s well
worth rounding up some extra help. To get enough force and
strength to put a half-Nelson on that calf and twist him after
his head is out takes at least 2 people,” he says. It also helps
to have several people to roll the cow over.
Time is crucial; the less time you
spend at delivering the calf, the better. As Hoffman points out,
time is trauma, for both the cow and the calf. You’re more apt
to have a live calf if you haven’t spent several hours trying to
deliver him. It’s also hard on the cow if the calf is in her
pelvis for very long. With all that pressure on the nerves in
her pelvis, for prolonged time, the more likely she’ll be
paralyzed and unable to get up.
“The longer it goes on, the worse it
is. Even with a tight pull, the cow may not be able to stand up
at first, but if you get a calf hiplocked and it stays there
awhile, it’s been in the pelvis so long that those nerves are
numb and the cow can’t get up,” explains Hoffman.
Backward & Breech
Most calves are born with front feet and head extended, the head
resting on the knees. A few, however, are presented backward and
may not survive the birth unless you are there to help. Even
fewer are breech—meaning the hind legs have not straightened out
and thus cannot enter the birth canal. With a breech calf, the
rump is hitting the cervix and the only thing you might find in
the birth canal is his tail.
Many years ago one of our
veterinarians told us that a person is lucky to save 1 out of 10
backward calves (and even less chance, on breech calves). This
is probably true when cows are at pasture and not frequently
checked. But with closer observation, and help given at the
right time, you can beat those odds tremendously.
During 40 years of calving, my
husband and I have had more than 80 backward calves and a
handful of breech (rump first) calves in our herd of 180 cows.
We usually have at least 1, and have had as many as 5 backward
births in a season. Out of more than 80,we’ve lost only 4. Our
first breech calf died because we didn’t check the cow soon
enough; nothing entered the birth canal so she wasn’t straining
yet--even though she’d been in labor too long and the placenta
detached. Two losses were big calves we could not deliver fast
enough before they suffocated. Another was fatally injured
during delivery, due to a crushed ribcage (catching on the cow’s
pelvis) and punctured lung from the broken ribs. But most
posterior and breech calves can be safely born, with help.
On average, according to one of our
vets, about 5 percent of all calves are backward at birth. This
will vary in any given herd in any given calving season. Every
backward birth is an emergency, so it is important to be able to
recognize the signs and help with delivery. In a normal
posterior presentation, the calf is right side up and both hind
feet enter the birth canal; the legs are straight out behind the
calf, which puts the bottoms of the feet upward (and this is
what you see when the feet emerge).
The head and front legs will be the
last part of the calf to emerge from the birth canal, so there
is danger of suffocation. Never try to turn a backward calf
around, however; there is not enough room and not enough time,
and it’s nearly impossible. To attempt it would seriously injure
the cow. A backward calf can be safely delivered just by helping
him through the birth canal.
If you see the bottoms of the feet,
however, don’t just assume the calf is backward. Reach inside to
get a feel of the whole leg. A calf may be sideways or upside
down instead of backward and just needs rotated. Always be sure
which part of the calf is presented before you put chains on and
start pulling.
PULLING A BACKWARD CALF
Restrain the cow in an place you’ll have plenty of room behind
her to use a calf puller. Very few backward calves are small
enough to safely pull by hand (unless you have 2or 3 strong
people). A rare few will survive an unassisted birth if the cow
calves fast and jumps up immediately after the calf is born—so
the membranes and fluid come away from his face and he can start
breathing. In all the backward births we’ve had, only 2 were
born without help. One was a tiny first-calf heifer’s calf that
emerged swiftly. The other was a small, streamlined calf out of
a big crossbred cow and sired by an Angus bull that threw small
calves. My husband and I arrived on the scene as the cow was in
labor with the calf halfway out. Seeing it was backward, we ran
up behind the cow to try and grab the calf and pull it on out.
Our running startled her and she jumped to her feet, with the
calf falling on out as she got up. The calf had been moving
readily through the birth canal and had not yet suffocated; the
cord was probably just pinching off as we approached—as the
calf’s hips and ribcage were passing through the birth canal.
Perhaps the cow’s jumping up was fortunate; if she’d lain there
a few more minutes with the calf’s head not yet out, he would
have suffocated. Most
calves will not survive unless you use a calf puller to get them
out quickly. Before you pull, however, do a thorough check
inside the cow to know exactly what’s happening. Sometimes the
umbilical cord may be caught over a hind leg. This occurs if one
of the hind legs passes under the cord as the legs are
straightening to enter the birth canal. If this happens, the
cord will be stretched and broken before the calf is even
halfway out, so check. If it’s caught over one of the legs, push
the calf back into the uterus far enough to manipulate that leg
(flexing the hock tightly) so you can get the cord off it. Also
make sure the calf’s tail is not stuck straight up over his
back, or his tail head will jam into the cow’s pelvis and impede
the birth process (possibly breaking the calf’s tail and
injuring the cow). Then
attach chains to the calf’s legs above the fetlock joints(double
half hitch to spread the pressure and not hurt his legs)and
start pulling. Go slow and easy at first to give the cervix time
to fully dilate as the buttocks start through it. Traction can
be applied on one hind leg at a time until its stifle joint has
been drawn up over the pelvic brim. Bringing them into the
pelvis one at a time enables the calf’s hindquarters to come
through more easily, since they are wide. If the hindquarters
are “stuck”, cross one leg over the other and pull hardest on
the lower one, to rotate the calf a little to one side and ease
the stifles through. Another way to rotate him a little is to
bend the hind legs a bit and use them as levers in a circular
motion to twist the calf’s hindquarters. If he is rotated 45 to
90 degrees (so he’s nearly lying on his side), this takes
advantage of the biggest diameter (up and down) of the cow’s
pelvis.
Make sure everything is coming properly, and twist the calf back
into right side up position if you had to rotate him to get his
stifles through the cow’s pelvis. Pull slowly until the hind
legs are out past the hocks. Direction of pull on the legs
should be straight out and slightly upward (from the back of the
cow) and applied equally—with a calf puller or 3 strong people.
Then take time to reposition the chains above the hocks,
especially if it’s a large or long-legged calf and you are using
a calf puller with winch and cable. This gives you more room to
winch. There’s nothing more
frustrating than getting a big calf partway out and running out
of cable room, with his head and shoulders still inside the cow.
At that point you don’t have time to reposition the chains; the
calf is suffocating because the umbilical cord has already been
pinched or broken. We learned this the hard way, on one of the
big backward calves we lost.
After the chains are repositioned above the hocks, winch him on
out slowly and carefully at first, until his tail head emerges
and you are sure the back of his ribcage has started through the
pelvis and won’t catch on it and be crushed. Once his
hindquarters are emerging from the vulva, however, hurry him on
out as fast as you can, to get him completely born before he
suffocates.
BREECH PRESENTATION
Due to their long hind legs and limited space in the uterus,
some backward calves fail to extend their hind legs during the
cow’s early labor. Thus the feet cannot enter the birth canal;
the rump is jammed against the cervix and the calf comes no
farther. This is one situation in which a cow does not progress
to hard labor after the cervix is dilated, since she does not
begin abdominal straining until some part of the calf enters her
pelvis and stimulates her to strain. In this instance, the only
part of the calf that can enter the birth canal is his tail, or
sometimes his hocks. This mal presentation is difficult to
detect without reaching in to check what’s happening. The cow
may or may not break her water; she appears to still be in early
labor. If she does start to strain, it’s because she is jamming
the calf’s hocks or hips through the cervix, but he can’t be
born. The calf’s legs are
forward and can’t enter the birth canal. He is usually in a
sitting position with hind feet up toward his head. There may be
a lot of pressure on his abdomen, with his legs forward
underneath him like that, and he may have a bowel movement. The
fluids surrounding the calf (or discharging from the vulva if
the amnion sac has broken) will then be yellow-brown.
If you wait too long to check the
cow, the calf will die. If you reach in (clear past the cervix)
you’ll find only the tail or rump, or sometimes the points of
the hocks. The rump must be pushed forward so there will be room
to maneuver each hind leg and bring it into the birth canal.
This will be much easier if the cow is standing rather than
lying down; she won’t be pushing so hard against you and it’s
also easier to get both arms into the birth canal. With one
hand, push the rump forward as far as possible. With the other,
grasp one of his legs, bend the hock joint, and lift the hock
upward. Reach farther along that leg until you can find the
foot. This takes a long arm, and if you are a small person you
need someone else to do this, with a longer arm. Draw the calf’s
foot backward in an arc, with your hand cupped around his toes
so they won’t scrape or puncture the wall of the uterus as you
bring that foot around to the rear.
Keep the hock joint tightly flexed
and the calf pushed as far forward (with your other hand) as you
can. Lift the foot up over the cow’s pelvis, keeping your hand
cupped around it, since this is where it’s most likely to tear
the membranes in this narrow passage. Do the same with the other
hind leg after you have the first one straightened and into the
birth canal. Make sure the umbilical cord does not get caught
over one of the legs as you lift it up. Once both hind legs are
extended behind the calf, attach chains and pull him, as
previously described. If it is impossible to bring the hind legs
into the birth canal, however, (and your vet can’t do it either)
the calf must be delivered by C-section.
Once he’s born, get him breathing.
Quickly get the fluid out of his air passages (using a suction
bulb if you have one) then tickle his nostril with a piece of
hay or straw to stimulate him to sneeze and take a breath. Vets
used to recommend hanging a calf by his hind legs to let fluid
drain from the air passages but now they don’t; most of the
fluid that comes out when you do that is from the stomach and
may be important to future health, and the pressure of his
abdomen against his lungs inhibits breathing. If he is limp and
unconscious but his heart is still beating, you still have a
chance to save him with artificial respiration—blowing air into
one nostril while keeping the other one (and his mouth) closed.
WHY DO CALVES COME BACKWARD?
When the fetus is growing it’s very active and readily changes
position. During the first 3 months gestation there are equal
numbers of backward and frontward fetuses. During the 4th
through 6.5 months, many are backward then they rotate. Several
factors influence whether a calf is backward or forward at birth
but the biggest factor may be heredity. In the 1960s, English
veterinarian G.H. Arthur found that many fetuses are backward
and upside down during the first 6 to 6.5 months, then rotate to
a frontward and right side up position. By the end of the 6th
month there are equal numbers in either position, but by the
middle of the 7th month only 5 percent or less remain backward.
This number may increase, however, when certain bulls are used.
Duane Mickelsen, DVM (reproductive
specialist, Washington State University) says calves sired by
some bulls grow too large by the stage in gestation when the
fetus rotates frontward. If a calf doesn’t change by the time he
is 6 to 6.5 months along, he may be too big; his length exceeds
the width of the uterus and there isn’t space for him to
reposition. Large size in itself does not mean a calf will be
backward, since many huge calves come frontward. But there may
be a correlation between fetal growth stages (influenced by
heredity) and whether or not the fetus shifts position by the
time it is 6 to 6.5 months along in gestation. Some bulls’
offspring may grow faster than others during early gestation,
becoming too large by that stage to rotate. “If a herd suddenly
has more backward calves than the herd average, it may be due to
a new bull. The incidence of backward calves will usually drop
again when you change bulls,” says Mickelsen.
Other factors that may influence
number of backward calves may include sex of the calf, age of
dam, nutritional factors such as body condition of the
dam—anything that might affect fetal growth rate during the
stage of gestation when the fetus shifts position. Increased
number of backward calves in pregnant feedlot heifers has been
noted, and may be due to high amounts of fat deposited in the
pelvic/abdominal area, preventing repositioning of the fetus
during that phase of gestation.
Malpresentations & Manipulations
Sometimes a calf is unable to be born because he’s not
positioned properly to come through the birth canal. The cow may
take a long time in early labor, or doesn’t progress when she
starts active labor (straining hard). Knowing when to help is
very important. Jeff Hoffman, DVM (veterinarian near Salmon,
Idaho) says you don’t want to rush in too fast, “but if you wait
too long, the uterus and cervix will start to shrink up again.
If the uterus contracts around the calf, you lose room and
ability to manipulate the calf if it’s not coming properly.”
A calf’s most deadly enemy in all cases of calving difficulty is
time. As a general rule, you can assume he has roughly 3 to 4
hours of oxygen supply after the cow begins active labor. After
that length of time the placenta starts to detach. On occasion
(when no part of the calf can start into the birth canal) the
cow won’t progress to hard labor and you’re not sure why she’s
taking so long. But a delay in checking her may result in a dead
calf.
In many types of abormal calf position the cow will strain,
since abdominal contractions are stimulated as soon as any part
of the calf enters the birth canal. His head or legs may come
through the cervix but he doesn’t progress farther because a leg
or the head is turned back, for instance. The cow will continue
to strain, putting pressure on the calf. If she’s been straining
awhile and nothing appears, you need to check.
Determining what’s wrong, and figuring out how to manipulate the
calf, is a skill that comes with experience. “You need to ‘see’
with your hands, to visualize what’s going on in there,” says
Hoffman. “You need to determine if it’s a front leg or back leg,
and make sure the legs you are pulling are both fronts or both
hinds. In a front leg, the two joints bend the same way, and in
ahind the joints bend in opposite directions,” he explains.
“Sometimes you run into a situation where you can’t sort out
what’s going on,” says Hoffman. “You have to keep in the back of
your mind that it might be an abnormal calf with a birth defect.
Leg joints may be fused and won’t straighten (or bend) or there
may be abnormal body parts too large to come through the birth
canal. I’ve seen some strange things, such as extra legs coming
out of the shoulders.” A fetal “monster” with bent spine (tail
near the head) and its internal organs exposed is another
situation in which the calf must be cut up or delivered by
C-section. If you encounter something you can’t figure out, call
your vet.
ELBOW HUNG UP
Occasionally one or both elbows will catch on the cow’s pelvis;
the foot or feet will only be advanced as far as the calf’s
nose. Sometimes all you need to do is pull the leg that’s not
advanced, and it will come unstuck. If it doesn’t, you need to
push the calf back a little as you rotate that leg and move the
elbow up and around—and off the pelvic brim, says Hoffman.
LEG TURNED BACK
If one or both legs are turned back, one front foot may appear,
or just the nose. If the cow continues to strain, she may push
the head through the vulva. You need to be watching and discover
the problem before she pushes the head out, or it may be
impossible to push the calf back so you can get the legs.
A leg turned back at knee or fetlock
is fairly easy to get—after you push the calf back far enough to
straighten it—moving the foot outward in an arc over the pelvic
brim. A leg turned back at the shoulder is harder to reach and
bring forward. You’ll need both arms in the cow to accomplish
this, holding the calf back as far as you can with one hand
while you use the other to lift the leg up and straighten it so
it can come into the birth canal.
“Any time you have to manipulate the
calf in the uterus, you need to be careful. Always have the hoof
cupped in your hand if you have to turn a leg,” says Hoffman.
“Otherwise it can rupture through the uterine wall if it scrapes
it. Those feet are sharper than you’d think, even with the soft
feathering over the bottom.”
HEAD TURNED BACK
If the front feet appear but there’s no sign of his nose, the
head may be turned back. Sometimes nothing will show. You must
reach in and find out what’s wrong. If the head is turned back,
get the cow up, if she’s down, to give you more room to
manipulate the calf, and to get both arms into her. If she won’t
get up, make sure she is not lying on the side the calf’s head
is down, even if you have to roll her over. If the calf’s head
is turned back toward her left flank, for instance, you want the
cow on her right side so the head is uppermost rather than down
underneath everything. A
head turned back can be a tough challenge. Some stockmen use a
head snare (loop of stiff cable to put over the head) to try to
guide and pull it into the birth canal. This is risky, however;
it may damage the cow’s uterus or push the calf’s jaw against
the uterine lining as you try to pull the head around. A chain
or rope loop around the head and through the mouth is also risky
because the lower jaw tends to drop open and the calf’s teeth
can tear the uterus. It’s better to just use both hands, holding
the calf as far back as you can with one hand while grasping the
lower jaw with the other, to bring it up into the birth canal.
If you can’t quite reach his jaw, you can get hold of the corner
of his mouth to bring the head around enough to reach it.
“Using a chain, snare or rope to try
to pull the head into the birth canal is a last resort,” says
Hoffman. “If you are hanging onto the jaw with your hand, you
can keep your hand between the teeth and the uterine wall and
it’s much safer.” Sometimes when the head is back, the calf is
dead; it didn’t respond to uterine contractions and straighten
its head and neck.
“Whether the calf is dead or alive, I manipulate the head by
hand rather than try to pull it around with anything. Head
snares can be especially dangerous and tear up a cow. If you
have to pull the head through the pelvis with traction, this
often means the calf is too big. You’re better off doing a
C-section. Sometimes when I arrive at a calving call, I don’t
get the whole story at first—when the feet and head are out and
the calf won’t come any farther. As a rule, when you get that
far, the cow has enough pelvic room to have the calf. But if
someone has already pulled the head through with a chain or
snare (because it wouldn’t come), this is a different story,”
says Hoffman.
CALF SIDEWAYS OR UPSIDE DOWN
Often a calf will be aimed a little crooked, sometimes due to
slight rotation of the uterus. Many will straighten as birth
progresses, but if he is completely sideways or upside down you
need to push him back into the uterus where there’s room to
rotate him into correct position. Don’t pull him until you’ve
rotated him. If it’s a tough job, the calf can help you in
providing part of the necessary movement if he’s alive. Use one
hand to provoke him into moving while you put a rotational twist
on his leg with your other hand. To stimulate him to move, press
on his eyeballs (which are protected by his eyelids) with thumb
and middle finger. This triggers a convulsive reflex movement
which will aid your effort to turn him.
Another thing that helps is to cross his legs before applying
traction via leg chains. Push him as far back into the uterus as
you can, apply chains, and cross the legs in appropriate
direction to turn him as you pull. The crossed legs and chains
should become parallel as the calf twists into proper position.
If this doesn’t turn him enough, push him back again and repeat
the process until he’s in proper position to be pulled out.
If he’s completely upside down and
you can’t rotate him, it may help to have the cow lying down so
you can roll her onto her back while you attempt the rotation.
It helps if her hind end is higher than her front. If this
doesn’t work, or you don’t have enough helpers to roll the cow,
call your vet. If the vat can’t rotate the calf either, then you
have the option of a C-section.
TORSION OF THE UTERUS
On occasion you’ll run into a situation where there’s a twist in
the birth canal/cervix area and you can’t get your hand clear
through into the uterus. There are spiral folds of tissue
blocking the way. The uterus and its contents have flipped
completely over. In this situation you’ll need help from your
veterinarian.
TIME IS CRUCIAL
Hoffman advises ranchers to go ahead and try to manipulate a
head or leg, but not try too long if they can’t do it
successfully. If you struggle too long, the optimum time to
straighten the calf (or even do a C-section and get a live calf)
may be past by the time you give up and call the vet.
He’s noticed that when it’s really
cold, he gets a lot more calving calls than when weather is
mild. “No one wants to mess with a cow and strip down to check
her or manipulate a calf if it’s bitterly cold. They’ll give it
a quick try and then give up and call the vet!”
REASONS SOME CALVES AREN’T AIMED RIGHT
During gestation the calf moves around a lot and can be in any
position, until late in pregnancy. By the time labor begins, the
calf is lying in a position that takes up least space in the
uterus, since he’s now very large and there isn’t much room. His
neck is bent and head tucked close to the body, and legs are
flexed; his knees and hocks are bent, with feet drawn close to
the body. But when the cow goes into labor, the stimulus of
uterine contractions (pressure on the calf) makes him extend his
head and neck and forelegs. At the beginning of labor the first
part of the calf to press against the cow’s cervix is usually
his knees, but then his legs straighten and his feet start
through it. Problems arise,
however, if the calf does not or cannot extend his head and legs
to start through the birth canal. If the calf is too big to
fully extend his legs or his head, or is already dead, they may
not enter the birth canal. A dead calf won’t respond to the
pressure of uterine contractions. A premature calf may not
either, since in that situation the cow’s contractions may not
be as strong (uterine inertia) and the calf may not be
stimulated enough to move and extend its head and limbs.
PUSHING A CALF BACK
In order to have room to manipulate a calf you must push him
back into the uterus. When you put your hand and arm into the
cow, however, this stimulates her to strain and push everything
against you. If you push hardest during the moments she’s not
straining (and just try to hold ground as she strains) it will
be easier. The simplest way to push a calf back, according to
Doc Hatfield (cattler raiser/veterinarian at Brothers, Oregon)
is to continually lean your weight against the calf, rather than
pushing with brute strength and wearing yourself out. “Put your
hand on his head, breastbone, rump (whatever is being presented)
and lean steadily. Each time the cow quits straining for a
moment, you’ll gain a few inches,” says Hatfield.
It’s easier to manipulate a calf if
the cow is standing rather than lying with the weight of her
abdomen on the uterus. But if she goes down and won’t get up,
Hatfield says the best thing to do is pull her hind legs
straight out behind her. “This forces her to lie on her belly,
stifles and brisket. You need a helper to straddle her back
(facing to the rear) to hold her tail straight up over her
back,” says Hatfield. This helps keep the cow in this position
(so she can’t get up), and pulling her tail straight up reduces
her ability to strain. It also puts her hindquarters higher than
her front end, which makes it easier to push the calf back into
the uterus where there is more room to maneuver and bring his
head or legs into proper position, explains Hatfield.
After you have pushed/leaned on the
calf enough to get him back into the uterus with room to
resposition him, you can move his head or leg around—just after
one of the cow’s contractions and hopefully before she can
strain again. “Once you have the legs and head coming properly,
reposition the cow onto her right side instead of her belly,
with all 4 legs out to the side, so she can strain effectively
and help you deliver the calf,” says Hatfield.
When it’s a tough challenge to manipulate the calf because the
cow is straining hard against you, some vets will use an
epidural block (anesthetic injected into the spinal column) to
keep her from straining. Neither Hatfield nor Hoffman resort to
this, however. As stated by Hoffman, “An epidural just
eliminates any help the cow can give you after you get the calf
manipulated. With an epidural you don’t have to fight all her
contractions—which are frustrating when you just about get a leg
or head turned and she gives a big push and you lose it again.
But I’d rather deal with that and have the help from her
straining after I get it straightened out.” |
