Post by Tammy on May 24, 2010 14:10:06 GMT -5
I know there are a few folks who don't read the Across the Fence Section so just to bring everyone up to date and then to fill in the details in hopes that it might help someone else in a similar situation:
Mayfield is an eleven year old Miniature Jersey who has never had any illness or calving difficulties since I have owned her gave birth to a dead heifer calf late Saturday evening. We found her down on Sunday morning and unable to get up. Here are the details:
According to the gestation calendar, Mayfield was Due May 28th but we know that they can calve two weeks on either side of that date and still be considered normal. I have never had any trouble knowing when Mayfield was going to calve because her udder always gets very full, her teats always get shiny, her ligaments get very loose and I know her body language when she is getting ready to calve. She always has the classic pre-calving signs and usually stays right with the herd until the last minute and then goes away and has her calves without difficulty.
I checked her Saturday morning and there was no sign of imminent calving. Later in the afternoon, I noticed she was off by herself and was lying down in the grass. When I noticed her staying there for an unusual amount of time, I went down to check on her. Although her udder, pins, ligaments etc. did not look ready she was giving me the very obvious signs that she intended to give birth to this calf and soon.
I had to move some animals around to give her a private place to have the calf and then by that time Mike was home and brought her up from the lower field. She walked from quite a distance and did not seem distressed. This was around seven or so.
I watched her for several hours and she would get up and turn around and then lye back down but I didn't see any active pushing on her part. We had picked 60 pounds of strawberries that morning and I was trying to get them all in the freezer and kept running back and forth between the kitchen and the stable to check on her. The last few times, Mike went down to check on her and he said she had started pushing pretty hard but the calf had not presented itself. He also said if he didn't see a change soon he was going to sleeve up and go in and assess the situation.
We both went down around ten and she was pushing harder than I have ever seen a cow push. she would almost ball up and then her legs would go out straight and stiff. To watch her like that I knew something was not right and she was in terrible pain. I panicked and Mike tried to calm me down by sleeving up and examining her. When he went in, at first he though the calf was backwards and he said he couldn't feel any legs.
I started trying to get in touch with my FIL so that he could come and help us but I could not reach him. I jumped in the truck and went to the other farm to try to find him and couldn't find him anywhere so I called the vet. The vet said he would come out but I told him to wait until I got back to the house to see what the status was. By that time, Mike had begun to pull the calf. He said he finally realized the the calf's legs were back behind her and he had to work the legs out so that he could pull on them. When he got the legs in position, she came out with no problem. She was not big. In fact, she was very tiny. She probably weighed 20 pounds, had a small head circumference and only 4 inch cannon bone. She was beautiful and perfect but not breathing. Mike thinks she had been dead for several hours at least but that is just a guess. We will never know I guess. I refused to admit she was dead and fell to the ground and began trying get her to breathe but it was no use. She was gone.
We left the calf with Mayfield all night because I believe that animals understand death. I don't think they understand when we just remove the calf from them without giving them a chance to see for themselves that there is no life there. Mayfield licked the calf and by morning she knew that the baby was not going to get up.
When we went down in the morning, Mayfield was unable to stand. She wouldn't even try. I didn't really think it was Milk Fever because her ears although cool were still up, and she was very alert. Mike and my FIL did treat her with calcium both sub -Q and intravenously. I had a new kit and the needle went right in but evidently when it did so, it either took a little piece of skin in or the blood coagulated in it and it stopped the needle up. They had to stop in the middle of the procedure and I had to try to clear the needle. It took a while to get it cleared. We had other needles but didn't realize it was going to take so long to get that one cleared. After treating her for MF she did not respond and still would not get up.
Having had a downed cow before, we realized the importance of getting her up as soon as possible. I can not stress this enough! Mike went to borrow the hip lift from our dairy farm neighbors and I stayed with Mayfield. She was sitting up chewing her cud and I just talked to her and rubbed her. She seemed very alert and content.
When Mike got back, we had to somehow get her out of the stable she was in so that we could get the tractor to her to lift her up. We tried to move her but the two of us could not do it. At one point, she laid out on her side and her legs were out stiff in front of her and she rolled her eyes back in her head and I was sure she was not going to make it at this point. Even Mike said something to the effect that he had already lost a calf and he was not going to lose a cow too. I kept talking to her and trying to get her to sit up but she would not or could not. We would strain and try to get her to sit and just couldn't' do it. At one point Mike was pulling on her and I was sitting on my butt behind her pushing with my feet and legs because I knew my legs were stronger than my back. WE could get her in a semi-sitting position but she would just fall back flat with her legs out straight. We stopped and called my FIL to bring up his ATV so we could try to move her out of the building. While waiting for him to get to our house, Mike started up the tractor and would you believe that when Mayfield heard that tractor she just sat right up? I couldn't believe it! After all that pushing and straining and trying to get her up and being convinced that she was dying she just sat up on her own. When the ATV arrived, we tied the rope halter to the back and Mike would pull gently with that while I pushed her and she began to work her feet and pull herself along a little bit at a time. We would relax the rope from time to time by stopping and giving her some slack and then we would start all over again. We finally got her out far enough that Mike could get the tractor in position. We got the hip lift on her and got her up with no problem. I took the hip lift off her and she walked away and has been getting up and down and walking every since.
We did give her a shot of Banamine to help with the pain before we lifted her with the tractor. The vet said we could give her 10-15 CC twice a day or 15-10 CC once a day.
Mike does not seem to think there is anything we could have done differently because he believes the calf was already dead and that her body was trying to expell it even though all the signs of imminent calving were not there. I don't know and keep torturing myself with maybe I should have done something quicker and she would have been able to save the calf. We will never know.
Mayfield is an eleven year old Miniature Jersey who has never had any illness or calving difficulties since I have owned her gave birth to a dead heifer calf late Saturday evening. We found her down on Sunday morning and unable to get up. Here are the details:
According to the gestation calendar, Mayfield was Due May 28th but we know that they can calve two weeks on either side of that date and still be considered normal. I have never had any trouble knowing when Mayfield was going to calve because her udder always gets very full, her teats always get shiny, her ligaments get very loose and I know her body language when she is getting ready to calve. She always has the classic pre-calving signs and usually stays right with the herd until the last minute and then goes away and has her calves without difficulty.
I checked her Saturday morning and there was no sign of imminent calving. Later in the afternoon, I noticed she was off by herself and was lying down in the grass. When I noticed her staying there for an unusual amount of time, I went down to check on her. Although her udder, pins, ligaments etc. did not look ready she was giving me the very obvious signs that she intended to give birth to this calf and soon.
I had to move some animals around to give her a private place to have the calf and then by that time Mike was home and brought her up from the lower field. She walked from quite a distance and did not seem distressed. This was around seven or so.
I watched her for several hours and she would get up and turn around and then lye back down but I didn't see any active pushing on her part. We had picked 60 pounds of strawberries that morning and I was trying to get them all in the freezer and kept running back and forth between the kitchen and the stable to check on her. The last few times, Mike went down to check on her and he said she had started pushing pretty hard but the calf had not presented itself. He also said if he didn't see a change soon he was going to sleeve up and go in and assess the situation.
We both went down around ten and she was pushing harder than I have ever seen a cow push. she would almost ball up and then her legs would go out straight and stiff. To watch her like that I knew something was not right and she was in terrible pain. I panicked and Mike tried to calm me down by sleeving up and examining her. When he went in, at first he though the calf was backwards and he said he couldn't feel any legs.
I started trying to get in touch with my FIL so that he could come and help us but I could not reach him. I jumped in the truck and went to the other farm to try to find him and couldn't find him anywhere so I called the vet. The vet said he would come out but I told him to wait until I got back to the house to see what the status was. By that time, Mike had begun to pull the calf. He said he finally realized the the calf's legs were back behind her and he had to work the legs out so that he could pull on them. When he got the legs in position, she came out with no problem. She was not big. In fact, she was very tiny. She probably weighed 20 pounds, had a small head circumference and only 4 inch cannon bone. She was beautiful and perfect but not breathing. Mike thinks she had been dead for several hours at least but that is just a guess. We will never know I guess. I refused to admit she was dead and fell to the ground and began trying get her to breathe but it was no use. She was gone.
We left the calf with Mayfield all night because I believe that animals understand death. I don't think they understand when we just remove the calf from them without giving them a chance to see for themselves that there is no life there. Mayfield licked the calf and by morning she knew that the baby was not going to get up.
When we went down in the morning, Mayfield was unable to stand. She wouldn't even try. I didn't really think it was Milk Fever because her ears although cool were still up, and she was very alert. Mike and my FIL did treat her with calcium both sub -Q and intravenously. I had a new kit and the needle went right in but evidently when it did so, it either took a little piece of skin in or the blood coagulated in it and it stopped the needle up. They had to stop in the middle of the procedure and I had to try to clear the needle. It took a while to get it cleared. We had other needles but didn't realize it was going to take so long to get that one cleared. After treating her for MF she did not respond and still would not get up.
Having had a downed cow before, we realized the importance of getting her up as soon as possible. I can not stress this enough! Mike went to borrow the hip lift from our dairy farm neighbors and I stayed with Mayfield. She was sitting up chewing her cud and I just talked to her and rubbed her. She seemed very alert and content.
When Mike got back, we had to somehow get her out of the stable she was in so that we could get the tractor to her to lift her up. We tried to move her but the two of us could not do it. At one point, she laid out on her side and her legs were out stiff in front of her and she rolled her eyes back in her head and I was sure she was not going to make it at this point. Even Mike said something to the effect that he had already lost a calf and he was not going to lose a cow too. I kept talking to her and trying to get her to sit up but she would not or could not. We would strain and try to get her to sit and just couldn't' do it. At one point Mike was pulling on her and I was sitting on my butt behind her pushing with my feet and legs because I knew my legs were stronger than my back. WE could get her in a semi-sitting position but she would just fall back flat with her legs out straight. We stopped and called my FIL to bring up his ATV so we could try to move her out of the building. While waiting for him to get to our house, Mike started up the tractor and would you believe that when Mayfield heard that tractor she just sat right up? I couldn't believe it! After all that pushing and straining and trying to get her up and being convinced that she was dying she just sat up on her own. When the ATV arrived, we tied the rope halter to the back and Mike would pull gently with that while I pushed her and she began to work her feet and pull herself along a little bit at a time. We would relax the rope from time to time by stopping and giving her some slack and then we would start all over again. We finally got her out far enough that Mike could get the tractor in position. We got the hip lift on her and got her up with no problem. I took the hip lift off her and she walked away and has been getting up and down and walking every since.
We did give her a shot of Banamine to help with the pain before we lifted her with the tractor. The vet said we could give her 10-15 CC twice a day or 15-10 CC once a day.
Mike does not seem to think there is anything we could have done differently because he believes the calf was already dead and that her body was trying to expell it even though all the signs of imminent calving were not there. I don't know and keep torturing myself with maybe I should have done something quicker and she would have been able to save the calf. We will never know.