Post by Wyatt on Apr 8, 2022 9:38:44 GMT
Most cows and heifers progress readily through three stages of labor -- early labor with uterine contractions, active labor with abdominal straining, and expulsion of the placenta after delivering the calf.
Uterine contractions in early labor get the calf aimed toward the birth canal, and the calf pushing against the cervix helps stimulate it to dilate. The water sac, and then the calf entering the birth canal, stimulates abdominal straining—second stage labor--to push him out.
If a heifer or cow is actively straining for more than 1 hour with no progress, you need to check her. If you are seeing progress—water bag, then the feet, then the nose—you can give her a little more time. Sometimes a large calf isn’t progressing through the birth canal. In this situation, when you check the cow you must determine whether the calf is too large to be pulled (and you need your veterinarian to do a C-section) or if you can safely pull the calf.
If the feet are showing at the vulva and its head is there (maybe the nose showing) but the cow or heifer isn’t progressing, check to see if there is room for a normal birth. If when you reach into the birth canal you cannot fit your fingers over the calf’s head (between his head and the cow’s pelvis) it’s too tight. If the feet are in the birth canal, but not the head, and the head keeps turning back when you try to bring it around and pull the calf, this may mean there isn’t enough room.
If when you check inside the cow and your hand will fit over the calf’s head and you think the pelvic area is large enough, but the birth canal is tight, take time to stretch it before trying to pull the calf. In first-calf heifers there will be tight rings of connective tissue inside the vulva; even though the feet may come through, these rings must stretch before the head can come through. Put your arms in and stretch that tissue before you attach chains to the legs and pull the calf.
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