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Pulling a calf, Sunday, January 24, 2010, edited a bit

Soapweed

Well-known member
Just realized that the wrong date was on these pictures. There is a little more to this story. The heifer had a noticeable kink in her tail at 9 p.m. Saturday night, so was put into the barn. She was standing quietly in a boxstall at 4 a.m. Sunday morning, with the "kink in her tail" still noticeable but nothing else was showing. She had never laid down to really get with the program or to have contractions, but I put her into the headgate at this time to check her out. She was not dialated yet, but the front feet and nose were there handy whenever she was ready. I decided to give her more time. Several hours went by with no more progress, so at noon on Sunday, Peach and I worked together and put her back in the headcatch. Peach checked her that time. Nothing had changed much, so we held a joint committee meeting and decided to give the heifer still more time. I looked at the heifer again at 2 p.m. Still no further progress. I went out again at 4 p.m. This time she was laying down with the toes showing, and the toes appeared to be pretty good-sized. The heifer had been into the headcatch often enough that I knew she would not want to go in again. I used my handy-dandy cell phone to call for back-up, breaking up a perfectly good card game in session. The calf was pulled by 4:30 p.m. Sunday, January 24th, some 19 hours after she had noticeably started to calve. Had we rushed this deal and tried to pull the calf earlier, the head would have gone back and we'd have had problems. Probably a C-section would have been necessary then.

Just thought I would detail this chain of events for the record. :wink:

Threeprettycheerleaders.jpg

Three pretty cheerleaders
Theteamcaptain.jpg

The team captain
Thisguydoesntgettoplaytoooften.jpg

This guy usually sits on the bench, but this time they let him play.
Notalay-upbutalay-down.jpg

Not a lay-up but a lay-down
Backsidesandelbows.jpg

Backsides and elbows
Gettingreadyforalittleaction.jpg

Getting ready for a little action
Ineverpromisedherarosegarden.jpg

I never promised her a rose garden. :wink:
Werebothkindofsleepyafterallthatact.jpg

We are both kind of sleepy after all the action.
HeadisupandIneedmymomma.jpg

Head is up, and I need my momma.
Asuccessfullanding.jpg

A successful landing; everyone will be able to walk away.
Motherandchild.jpg

Mother and child
Suppertime-1.jpg

Suppertime
Thiscoldandsnowmakesmehavetogo.jpg

This cold and snow makes me have to go.
Beddeddownforthenight.jpg

Bedded down for the night
 

John SD

Well-known member
Soap, thanks for pics of a story with a happy ending. You certainly have good help there! 8)

It looks kinda chilly in the maternity ward. If I have to play midwife I hope the job is still 3 months away. :wink:
 

WyomingRancher

Well-known member
Oh goody :roll: , glad you got it pulled in good shape. How many more do you think got bred early?

The neighbor's bulls hopped in with some of these cows early last May, so I'll be joining you in calving festivities soon. I Lutalysed the ones I knew got bred, but it looks like I missed at least one :? .
 

Soapweed

Well-known member
Just realized that the wrong date was on these pictures. There is a little more to this story. The heifer had a noticeable kink in her tail at 9 p.m. Saturday night, so was put into the barn. She was standing quietly in a boxstall at 4 a.m. Sunday morning, with the "kink in her tail" still noticeable but nothing else was showing. She had never laid down to really get with the program or to have contractions, but I put her into the headgate at this time to check her out. She was not dialated yet, but the front feet and nose were there handy whenever she was ready. I decided to give her more time. Several hours went by with no more progress, so at noon on Sunday, Peach and I worked together and put her back in the headcatch. Peach checked her that time. Nothing had changed much, so we held a joint committee meeting and decided to give the heifer still more time. I looked at the heifer again at 2 p.m. Still no further progress. I went out again at 4 p.m. This time she was laying down with the toes showing, and the toes appeared to be pretty good-sized. The heifer had been into the headcatch often enough that I knew she would not want to go in again. I used my handy-dandy cell phone to call for back-up, breaking up a perfectly good card game in session. The calf was pulled by 4:30 p.m. Sunday, January 24th, some 19 hours after she had noticeably started to calve. Had we rushed this deal and tried to pull the calf earlier, the head would have gone back and we'd have had problems. Probably a C-section would have been necessary then.

Just thought I would detail this chain of events for the record. :wink:
 

Cedarcreek

Well-known member
Good pictures. Trying to decide when to wait or help one like that is a tough call sometimes.
Looks like your weather is what we had yesterday without the heavy snow, about the same temps and windy.
 

tenbach79

Well-known member
Thanks for the pictures soapweed. That does sure look like a big calf. Those darn heifers sometimes just dont know whats going on to just lay down and have that thing. I know we always have those meeting also do decided whether to pull or not to pull. I know its best sometimes to just let nature give it a try before you get your hands in.
 

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