by Texas Homesteader
Sometimes a calf could not be delivered naturally by his young mama. Recently we had to act fast to help deliver. In this case, it saved the baby’s life! All’s well that ends well… WHEW!
~TxH~
~Texas Homesteader~
Working To Provide For Ourselves On Our Texas Homestead
Caesarean?
What did you do to save the calf? Manually turn him?
This calf wasn’t breach – he was just large. Mama labored hard for a while, looked to be progressing normally for a heifer but she started showing signs of distress – she just wasn’t dilated enough even though she was pushing hard & constantly. Soon she began strong verbalization and grinding her teeth and we knew she was in pain. RancherMan ran & got the truck and we roped her to the hitch. Then he tied her back leg so she wouldn’t kick me while I was in a dangerous area we went in to assist.
We got the chains on the calf’s legs but the heifer was just not dilated enough for us to make any progress. THANK GOODNESS we recently bought a calf puller for just such emergencies & we were finally able to get the calf out. He’s a good-sized boy but not huge – I think mama’s lack of dilation was the hindrance.
Of course being a first-calving heifer and not being able to deliver naturally, mama was a little confused at first. The calf wasn’t showing much sign of life so RancherMan & I held his back feet into the air to clear his airway and soon he began to sputter and moo softly, which got mama’s interest up. Finally she got up & started cleaning him so we knew all would be fine. Mama & baby & doing great now. ~TxH~
Oh my how scary, glad it turned out well for all. That poor mama. Her little boy is very cute
What an adorable Christmas baby. So glad that mother and baby are doing well.
Always warms ones heart when you can save such a precious thing.
Great job Mr. & Mrs. Dr. Taylor’s
Oh gracious……….what a beautiful little bull!
Good job saving him. Life can be scary at times but so rewarding in the end.
I haven’t been following you very long but am so glad that I found you. I enjoy your blog so very much and wanted to Thank You for all your lovely pictures and all that you share. You inspire me and brighten my days.
Merry Christmas to You and Your Family