When to assist in calvingKnowing when to assist in calving can be a tricky matter. It requires a delicate balance between not reacting too quickly and not reacting too late. Finding this balance can require a lot of experience and maybe a little luck.

If you help too early there is a chance that you did not need to help at all. You also run the risk of injuring the calf as well as the cow.

Waiting too long can have very dire results. There is the certain possibility that you will lose both the calf and it’s momma at the same time.

So to help you find the right balance of when to take action or not I have provided some information to get you on the path to success.

What causes dystocia

Before we start on the steps you need to take I felt it best to go over a few basics. As we know if you are needing to pull a calf that means that your cow is experiencing some form of dystocia.

Dystocia is the scientific term for any type of birthing difficulty. There are usually just 3 causes of dystocia that you are likely to come across.

The most common cause is that the calf is “too big”. This usually occurs in young heifers because they have not grown big enough or you are using a bull that sires calves bigger than she can handle. 50% of all of the calving problems are with 1st-calf heifers, 25% are with 2nd-calf heifers. The rest are spread out among all the cows in the herd.

Second most common cause is from the calf not coming out right. This can be caused by either it’s head being turned around or wanting to come out first. The normal way that a calf should come out is with it’s front feet first followed by it’s head facing forward. This should resemble like a “diving forward” type of pose.

Finally a third cause would be a lack of uterine contraction or uterine fatigue. While typically it is rare for this to occur it does happen. It can usually be caused by the cow being in a low nutritional state.

How to prevent dystocia

Now that we have gone over what are some of the causes of dystocia what are some ways that you can prevent it from happening in the first place.

One way that you can do this is to make sure that your heifers are bred at the correct age and weight. This will make sure that she will be big enough to handle giving birth.

Another thing you can do is to select bulls that have been shown for calving ease. Normally this would mean selecting one with a low birth weight EPD but within the last few years they have started to include calving ease among the EPD numbers.

Cows should be in the proper BCS at the time of calving. This means that they should score in the 5 or 6 range. If they are too thin then she may not be able to do it. On the other side if she is too fat then the calf may have difficulty in coming out.

Before breeding season if possible you can measure the pelvic area in replacement or bred heifers. This measurement will tell you if she has enough room for the calf to make it out.

When to assist calving

Odds are that you may not have to assist in calving but in the event that you have to here are a few clues that your assistance is needed.

  • Water sac has been visible for 2 hours and the cow is not trying
  • If the cow has been trying for over 30 minutes and there is no visible progress
  • The cow has quit trying for over 15-20 minutes after a period of progress
  • Cow or calf are showing signs of fatigue or stress. This can be something like the calf has a swollen tongue or the cow is bleeding from her rectum
  • It actually looks like the delivery is abnormal

If you are looking for more information on how to handle dystocia in cattle Bovine Veterinarian Online has a very informative article here.

How to assist calving

You believe that you a cow is needing help in calving so what do you do? Here is a short checklist that will give you some idea.

  • First make sure that she is not able to deliver this calf on her own: Before you go through the hassle of pulling the calf make sure that your assistance in required.
  • Find out if the cause of dystocia is not caused by the calf being too large: if the calf is too big to pass through the birth canal then you will need to call the vet. Trying to deliver the calf in this situation non-surgically can cause damage or even death to both the cow and the calf.
  • Make sure that the cause of the dystocia is not from the calf being completely turned around. If this is the case then a call to your vet will be needed.
  • Use clean equipment: introducing bacteria inside the cow can reduce fertility meaning it will be longer till she comes back into heat
  • Do not use liquid soap as lubricant: the composition of liquid soap will break down the natural lubricant of the cow. Methylcellulose based lubricant is best, you can also use cooking oil or petroleum jelly.
  • Use 60 inch chain over 30 inch: the location you want to loop the chain is just below the dewclaw but above the hoofwhen to assist in calving
  • Pull alternatively on each leg to “walk” the shoulders out. You will want to pull upwards toward the tail head to prevent any damage to the cow
  • If you are not completely comfortable in your abilities then you should call the vet

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