Was on my way to the shops, so I popped in at the local farmers to see if he still had some potatoes for me, but they were busy as one of his cows was ready to give birth, and they were concerned it will have to be done with a Cesarean
Yep, the vet, after , well , sticking his hand up her, confirmed that the calf is a big one, so it would be a lot easier for all involved ( that includes the cow) to do a cesarean .
Now, I never use the jump for a continuation of my post when it involves pictures, but these following pictures are not for you faint hearted out there that can't stand the sight of blood, so if that's the case don't read on
Because it will get bloody, first cut
Getting wider
Kenny ( no, not my brother, although he too loves his motorbikes ) has to take a hold of the dog, as the dog treats all the cows as his own, and the sight of the vet cutting into a cow with blood coming out, at first does not sit well with the dog, and he's been known to have a go at the vet before
Ok, cut is nearl big enough, a little bit more, and then the vet pretty much just gets in there and tries to get a hold of the calfs feet and pull it out feet first
And here she comes
And it takes 3 of them to pull her out, this is my first time, so they tell me that this calf is a nice big grown one
Et voila
And she's in good health, now they milk the cow and feed the calf asap
Not a pretty sight I know , but I told you not to continue if you did not have the stomach for it
As off tomorrow, she'll be on her feet already
Still, must be weird to come into the world like this , dragged out by your feet, and then to be licked clean by a dog !
Now for the big clean up
And the vet stitches up the mother again
Well it is a natural thign ofcourse, but yeah,that stupid dog
Posted by: sonny | June 22, 2008 at 19:34
Well it is a natural thign ofcourse, but yeah,that stupid dog
Posted by: sonny | June 22, 2008 at 19:34
Interesting. It wasn't as bad as I'd imagined it to be. The dog's gorgeous...although a little strange to be licking the calf!
Posted by: Mae | June 22, 2008 at 17:04
I don't think you're my father
Posted by: Jac | June 15, 2008 at 12:42
yes, you're right, but everyone is still so busy with holding the cow in place while the vet stitches her up, and we do shoo the dog away every now and then, anyway, while she was being licked , the calf kept looking at me while she was licked clean, so she'll now think I'm the father :-)
Posted by: sonny | June 15, 2008 at 11:48
I think the mother is supposed to lick the gunk off it. Not the family dog. That's what it's like in the sheep world anyhow, from memory. Something to do with enzymes in the afterbirth helping stimulate the milkflow and 'ownership' of the young'n.
That calf is now going to grow up to become a serial killer.
Posted by: frockwriter | June 15, 2008 at 11:38
always good to share stories
:-)
Posted by: sonny | June 13, 2008 at 09:03
oh that is a relief! i guess the cow wouldn't be standing there so calmly if there wasn't any anaesthetic involved. gees, i went on about my cow experience. it just isn't something that happens every day, especially when you are supposed to be working on plants, so i wanted to share the story. eva
Posted by: | June 13, 2008 at 08:57
yeah, it got about 10 injections all along where he was going to incise
Posted by: sonny | June 12, 2008 at 08:37
sorry. i accidentally posted my long reponse twice! eva
Posted by: | June 12, 2008 at 05:32
wow. amazing photo's. when i was doing vegetation surveys with my boss, we came across a cow that had a calf head and one leg sticking out of her. the other leg was tucked inside so the baby couldn't be born. unfortunately the baby was already dead. my boss' dad owned a dairy farm so she knew all about cows, so she rolled up her sleeves and told me to do the same. although it wasn't on my job description, the next i knew, i was tugging inside the cow trying to get the calf out b4 the mum went into calving paralysis. the calf wouldn't budge. we had to get a neighbour to bring a cow winch type thing and they had to winch the dead baby out. the cow had been through hell for hours. who knows how long she was out in the swamp before WE found her. thank goodness that a vet was helping out with the cow and calf in your part of the world. at least they both survived. did they give the mum cow any anaesthetic or something? eva
Posted by: | June 12, 2008 at 05:31
wow. amazing photo's. when i was doing vegetation surveys with my boss, we came across a cow that had a calf head and one leg sticking out of her. the other leg was tucked inside so the baby couldn't be born. unfortunately the baby was already dead. my boss' dad owned a dairy farm so she knew all about cows, so she rolled up her sleeves and told me to do the same. although it wasn't on my job description, the next i knew, i was tugging inside the cow trying to get the calf out b4 the mum went into calving paralysis. the calf wouldn't budge. we had to get a neighbour to bring a cow winch type thing and they had to winch the dead baby out. the cow had been through hell for hours. who knows how long she was out in the swamp before WE found her. thank goodness that a vet was helping out with the cow and calf in your part of the world. at least they both survived. did they give the mum cow any anaesthetic or something? eva
Posted by: | June 12, 2008 at 05:31
biggest epidural I've ever seen, and about 10 of them
Posted by: sonny | June 11, 2008 at 13:16
I like the autoclave pic. Hope the cow had an epidural!
Posted by: Jac | June 11, 2008 at 13:11
lol
Posted by: sonny | June 11, 2008 at 12:38
i think i was dragged out by my feet and licked clean by a dog...
:)
i bet it was both horrific and amazing to see something like that. i've only seen puppies being born, and that was so cool.
Posted by: lady coveted | June 11, 2008 at 12:26