# What causes breach calves?



## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

I had one come breach the other day. I was keeping an eye on her from a distance and noticed that the hoofs didn't look right coming out. By the time I got there he was on the ground breathing and she is being an excellent mother. This is the second one breach this year, both are being excellent mothers and spit the calves right out without assistance. 

Did the mothers lack something? I'm giving them mineral and salt. None of the cows had any problems with their births. I've got two heifers left to calve I'm hoping they don't have issues. I know lots of people in our area have had difficult calving seasons, particularly with heifers, do I just chalk this up to the severe drought or do I need to change something? My calves are averaging 70 lbs so they aren't huge calves. My hay tested 10% protein and I also feed some cubes.


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## opportunity (Mar 31, 2012)

My book claims that it has to do with when the grow and that they are two big to turn around and get stuck in the breach position. Growth comes form both parents did you use a new bull?


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

opportunity said:


> My book claims that it has to do with when the grow and that they are two big to turn around and get stuck in the breach position. Growth comes form both parents did you use a new bull?


He is new to me. Bought him off my inlaws they used him as a yearling without problems then I used him as a 2 year old. I intend to turn him back in with the cows in the next month. I have bought a 3 yr old bull that's a smaller frame score and throws low birthweight cows to use on the heifers, but intend to use the same bull on the cows. 

A big part of me thinks its due to the drought. But enough of me wonders if there was something I could have done different to pose the question.


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## ramiller5675 (Mar 31, 2009)

I think the drought has something to do with it, out of a group of 8 heifers this year I had to pull 3 calves and I had a 3 year old that I had to pull a breach calf. I'm lucky that I checked on the 3 year old, or I would have had a dead cow the next day. All the heifers and the 3-yr old looked like they were in reasonable condition and they were all bred to LBW bulls.

But we have had two years of drought, so there wasn't much green grass for them to eat for awhile, and there is something about Vitamin A levels dropping because of that. 

If you had checked that cow a little earlier or a little later, you never would have known that the calf was a breach. I think breaches happen more often than people think, and no one realizes it unless they are babysitting each and every cow that's calving.


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## randiliana (Feb 22, 2008)

Breech and backwards are 2 different positions. Breech is legs down, only tail coming and it is a malpresentation. Backwards is with the legs and tail coming and it is essentially considered a normal presentation (not saying that it can't be a problem). More cows have backwards calves than most people think, and I believe that a good percentage of the 'stillborn' calves that we find are probably calves that were born backward, and they suffocated before the cow had them or got up (because a lot of cows will lay still for a few minutes after they have calved). I watched one this spring born backwards, she was standing up having it, and I couldn't figure out why the calf looked so funny (I was a little ways away) until she gave the last push and it popped out head last...

IMO, at some point in the development of the calf, it just gets to big to roll/bounce/spin around in there and gets stuck in the backwards position. I probably wouldn't blame it on a bull, or even on the cow. We've had numerous backwards calves over the years, and it is pretty rare for a cow to have more than 1. Having said that, we did have 1 cow that had several backwards calves. We culled her after I really paid attention her record one day! And there was one year where we had the dam and daughter both have backwards calves. I think that one was just coincidence though.


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## ramiller5675 (Mar 31, 2009)

When I said I had to pull a breech calf, I should have said a backwards calf just as randiliana correctly said in the much better explanation of why and how backwards calves occur. 

A certain percentage of calves are going to be normal, backwards, twins, breech, etc. and there isn't really anything you can do about it.


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## Laurie (Jan 5, 2013)

In people it can be different reasons or none at all. Sometimes the shape of the uterus.


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

One thing to check is the cow's selenium level, as well as the selenium level of whatever she's getting to eat. Most of the country is low in selenium.

Low selenium causes the uterus to be tougher, harder than it should be. It's harder for the calf to stretch it to fit, so the calf is more crowded. That makes it harder for the cow to get the calf into position.

A second symptom that would point to selenium deficiency is a retained placenta, or the cow taking a long time to clean out.

It takes a lab to do the blood work to tell the cow's selenium level. A soil test will tell you if your soil is deficient. Your county agent should be able to test your hay or grass.

Your county agent should already know what the selenium levels are in your area. He's a big help in resolving issues like this, and he's free.


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

Good info on the breach vs backwards. I hate that it won't let me edit this thread title and it auto corrected causes, which I didn't catch before I submitted the thread.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

FarmerDavid said:


> Good info on the breach vs backwards. I hate that it won't let me edit this thread title and it auto corrected causes, which I didn't catch before I submitted the thread.


I fixed it for you.
My first try at that and it worked.


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

Thanks ill sleep better tonight.


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