# upside down calf



## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

I just wanted to share this, because we have a lot of newbies on this board and this is a good lesson, (for all of us) One of my cows went into labor this afternoon, so I waited about 30 minutes before going to check her. She always has her babies with no trouble. I noticed that her anus was buldging out when she strained, instead of her vulva, I knew that wasn't a good sign. I checked her and found an "upside down nose and tounge, no feet. I went to the house, called the vet and headed back to see what I could do. I felt inside her and found one foot, but the other was bent backwards and I couldn't get ahold of it to pull it forward. Every time she'd push, I'd push the calf back, just praying for the vet to hurry. When he got there, he gave her an epidural and slowed her down a little bit, then he pushed the calf back in, far enough that he got ahold of the leg that was bent backward and when he got ahold of those two feet, here he came :hobbyhors He was a big boy, but I think the problem was the fact that he was upside down. Thats why we need to keep an eye on them at calving time. If I hadn't been here, I would have lost them both..........that was too close.
P.J.


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## cjb (May 2, 2006)

Thanks for sharing - that is a fright!

I always try to be present for livestock births and am relieved when they go ok.


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## Oakshire_Farm (Dec 4, 2008)

My Jersey is due to calve next wednesday!! whoo-hoo!! I have started bringing her into the barn at nights now, just to get her used to it! This will be her 3rd calf but the first one for me!!! I am very excited!! 

Fingers crossed for a little heifer!

I lost my holstein to the same problem that your cow had  She was a 10 year old cow, we didn't want her bred but a 10 month old angus bull had other ideas, lol. She always had very hard births, she started pushing at about mid nigh, I noticed there was a problem about half hour later. Called the vet, he came and helped deliver a still born calf  Then Cream (my cow's name) came down with a hard case of milk fever, we had to put her down after 2 days, the vets tried everything. It was a horible night. I am now very carefull at when my cows are calving.

You are lucky that you were there and able to help her out!


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## farmmom (Jan 4, 2009)

I'm glad everything worked out ok for you. That must have been very scary.


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## randiliana (Feb 22, 2008)

We seem to run into a lot of upside down calves. They have to be turned over to be born. A lot of cows with an upside down (or breech) calf never seem to go past the first stage of labour. Some never show any signs of being in labour beyond a lot of restlessness and moving around. They never go into active labour, because nothing enters the birth canal to initiate the next stage of labour. It is a good idea to check on any cow that seems to be unusually restless for more than 4-5 hours without going into active labour. I'd rather check out a cow that was not calving, than miss one and lose a calf in a cow that did in fact have problems.

We have had up to 10% (7 of 70 births) of our calves come upside down, so have gotten good and not only detecting the problem early on (although we do still miss the odd one) but also, my husband has gotten the hang of turning them over to be born. 

Depending on the calf, you may be able to turn them over by grabbing the bottom jaw and twisting or by grabbing a leg and pulling it across the chest of the calf to turn it. I am not so good as him (or as strong) and usually end up calling him to help.


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

Wow, that seems like a really high number !!! This is the first one I've ever had, and I really don't want another. I wasn't strong enough to push him back into the birth canal, but the vet was and was able to get ahold of the front legs and pull him right out. He didn't turn the calf, just pulled him like he was.
P.J.


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## Cotton Picker (Oct 10, 2008)

Hi P.J.

I must admit that I have not come across the particular type of abnormal presentation that you described. I am glad that the Vet was able to successfully deliver your calf. You didn't say for certain that the calf lived, however, from the tone of your thread, he did.

I don't wish to get in any arguments with Veterinary professionals by questioning their methods, however, I have a few concerns that I would like to voice.

I would exercise extreme caution in pulling a calf in the inverted position as your calf was. In any assisted delivery you run the risk of the hips of the calf locking in the pelvis of the cow. If not quickly remedied it can lead to a "Downer" (See link below) By causing damage to the cow's sciatic nerve(s), or cracking the pelvis, or both.... 

Thank you for your positive review of the Merck website I posted. I will take the liberty of posting a few links here that specifically deal with calving problems.

Abnormal or Hard Labor (Dystocia)

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/181411.htm

The following is a link to a book review. I checked and this chapter seems to be intact. You can magnify it to read it however you will be prevented from cutting and pasting the chapter to an email. 

http://books.google.com/books?id=TU...q=abnormal+presentation+in+bovine+parturition

The following are some of the post parturition difficulties that one might face with the fresh cow.

Milk Fever (Parturient Paresis)

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/80302.htm

Downer Cow (Problematic Bovine Recumbency)

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/91100.htm

I hope this helps.

David


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

Thanks Cotten Picker, I like the threads, thats the kind of stuff we all need to know. Yes, the calf is up and running around, doing very well. His momma hasn't cleaned out yet, I think the epidural may have stopped the contractions to the point that she didn't pass the afterbirth as quickly as she should have. As for the calf hanging up, as soon as the vet got him pushed back in and got both legs straightend out, he gave a pull and that baby just shot out !! I'm very thankfull that it all went well, we live about an hours drive from the vet and I sure did appreciate him getting here as fast as he did.
P.J.


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## randiliana (Feb 22, 2008)

Must have been a fairly small calf. As stated above, an upside down calf SHOULD be turned over. They are not designed to be born upside down, their spine does not bend like that. Your vet got lucky IMO (and so did you) he could very easily have caused either or both the cow and the calf serious injury.


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

This was a Dexter cow with a very large calf. I guess we were lucky, because there are no lasting effects except that she still isn't cleaned out, I'm taking her to the vet this afternoon, and get that taken care of. I honestly can't say if he turned the calf or not, I was talking to the other vet and it really happened FAST!!, so he could have turned him when he was pushing him back in, but if he did, he did it so fast that I didn't notice.
Either way, thank the cow gods, all is well........P.J.


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## Penny-Ontario (Oct 20, 2007)

Glad everything worked out.


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