THE CALVING OF DAIRY COWS.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXVII, Issue 1, 20 July 1923, Page 7

THE CALVING OF DAIRY COWS.

HINTS FOR FARMERS.

A. R. YOUNG,

M.R.C.V.S., Director of the Live-stock Division.

PRELIMINARY MEASURES.

A fortnight or three weeks before calving-time dairy cows should be removed from fields where turnips or other winter forages of that class are to be had in large quantities, and placed in a clean, fresh grasspaddock with sufficient available shelter. The paddock should be as free as possible from rough conformation, especially swamps, and fences abutting upon steep gullies where there is a danger of calves slipping through. The cow’s food should consist only of the grass she gathers, or if there is not enough of this to keep her in fair condition other suitable food should be supplied to cover the deficiency. A few days before calving a good laxative should be given. The . animal should be kept dry and warm, but allowed plenty of opportunity for exercise.

Before calving, also, all the hair upon the tail except the brush should be removed with 'the aid’ of a pair of horse-clippers. The upper part of the thighs, right up to and around the root of the tail, should be similarly treated, while any long hairs upon the udder should also be removed. These parts should then be well washed with soap and water into which has been put a tablespoonful of disinfectant to a bucketful of water. Most of the standard disinfectants are useful for .this purpose ; also good sheep-dip preparations at the strength used for dipping.

NORMAL CASES.

When a cow is observed in labour one must not rush to the conclusion that she must be calved at once. Many farmers have so acted and caused much unnecessary pain and often extensive injury to the cow. Before attempting to assist a calver, first wash the hands and arms clean, using some disinfectant, then rub the hands and arms all over with vaseline, soap, or other clean lubricant. Having done this, introduce the hand gently and find out how things are progressing. Should the opening into the womb be . too small to admit the hand, do not force matters, but after manipulating the small opening with the forefinger leave the animal for an hour or so. Then try again, using the same precaution as to cleanliness, but never judge when a small opening is found that it will necessarily take hours to sufficiently

open, as relaxation often takes place with extraordinary rapidity. Should there appear, however, to be plenty of room for calving, the water-bag may be broken and. an examination made as to the position of the calf. ■ If the two. fore feet and the head can be felt well advanced into the external cavity (the normal presentation), given a roomy cow and an average calf, the operator may proceed to calve the patient in the ' usual ■ way and be 1 successful single-handed. If, however, there is any doubt about being able to calve the animal single-handed, do not touch her until assistance has been secured, as many a good calf and often the cow as well has been lost for want of sufficient assistance at the proper time.

After the calf is clear of the cow the first thing to attend to is clearing away any obstruction that may be adhering to the nose and mouth of the calf. Should it have some difficulty in getting its wind, moving its limbs and vigorously rubbing with a handful of . straw will be of much assistance., Having got it. to breathe all right, attention should be directed to the navel-cord. Usually this is broken and the bleeding stopped by contraction of the muscular part of the cord when the act of parturition is complete. Sometimes, however, it does not break, and in such case it should be tied with a clean piece of twine about i in. from the body, then the remainder cut off close to the cord, but not so close that the twine may slip off. After this is done, or when the navel-cord has broken in the natural course, make the whole of the part germ-proof by a liberal smearing with an antiseptic ointment. This should be carefully attended to, as the navel is the spot where the germs of such diseases as joint-ill gain access, although their results may not show for many days afterwards.

'The calf may now be left until the cow has been attended to. The afterbirth need • not be troubled about in the meantime unless that part of the cord attached to the cow is bleeding ; if so, tie up the bleeding end at once. The cow should be offered a drink of water, with the chill taken off, into which has been stirred a couple of handfuls of oatmeal. Usually she will drink this greedily, and be much refreshed. If the animal has come through a hard time a bottle of beer every few hours is one of the best stimulants. The cow should then be made comfortable ; it will pay, and the sense of humanity demands that she be given every attention for at least a few days. Milk should be frequently drawn from the cow and a portion of it given to the calf. In no case should a cow be milked dry for a few milkings, but, on the other hand, never allow the udder to be overstocked. Follow the practice that Would be adopted by the calf if allowed to suckle its mother. It wants a little at a time and often, and this suits the mother also.

MALPRESENTATIONS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM.

The foregoing is a brief outline of what should be done in normal cases, but unfortunately there are often malpresentations of the calf. Of these there are a great variety, but only the most common will be dealt with here. It should always be borne in mind that one should never attempt to take away a calf until the calf and the cow are got in the most favourable position ; to do otherwise is courting disaster. The malpresentation may be by the head and one leg, the head and

three legs (two fore legs and one hind leg or the leg of a twin), legs without the head, no legs and no head, the head alone, or the hind quarters coming first. These are the most common, besides which cases of monstrosities, too big a calf, or a dead calf will occasionally be met with. The procedure here recommended for dealing with some of these abnormal presentations will be of assistance in connection with any other condition not specially referred to.

If the head alone is presented it will have to be'pushed far enough back to allow of exploration for the legs. In pushing the head back do not use too much forcejust a steady pressure between the expulsion efforts of the cowand keep the nose well up toward the back so as to be easy of recovery when wanted. Now feel for the fore legs, and when, one is secured straighten it out and draw it into the external cavity. Before doing anything further it is advisable to tie a piece of clean cord around the fetlock and let the other end hang outside. In many cases this will be a wise precaution, because this leg may have to be pushed back in order to get at the other, and when found no time is lost in tracing the first one. Once they have been properly straightened out there is no tendency for them to double back. Having got both legs into a favourable position, carefully observe an important rule — never to pull upon the legs until after the head has been got well forward, into the passage. Here assistance is useful to gently and steadily pull upon the legs while the other operator keeps the head advancing at the same time. If the calf is not coming freely work it a little from side to side, and when it is coming in the correct position never pull straight, but slightly inclined towards the udder; It will also be of advantage sometimes to slightly advance one leg and then the other, as this reduces the width of the shoulders. Meantime, whenever the head appears,, keep relieving the skin of the cow from the head and body of the calf. When the head and only one leg is presented push the leg back, as already directed, while the other is being recovered. When more than two legs are coming, great care must be exercised not to put the wrong one back, as even in the case of only two fore legs presented it has sometimes been found that one belongs to one calf and the other to its twin.' This is best determined by following up the legs with the hand until'the joints are found ; these will guide one as to fore or hind legs, and, as a general rule, when three legs are concerned the two foremost are the correct ones.

• It is no uncommon occurrence to find only- the two fore legs, the head being doubled back along the side of the calf or down towards its brisket. In this case the legs will have to be put back out of the way while one feels for the head. When found, place the forefinger into the side of the calf's mouth ; this will give you a good hold to turn the head round, after which a good grip can be got and the lower jaw and the head brought into, position. Then recover the legs. Sometimes the calf may be found somewhat upon its back ; usually this can be adjusted, but, if not, the pull would in this case be upwards instead of downwards. If the hind quarters are coming first do not attempt to turn the calf, but just take it away in that position, first raising the hind quarters of the cow so that a slightly downward pull will be available. Where the tail only is presented the hind legs will, be found doubled up, and it is a somewhat difficult matter to straighten them

out. Personally, I never try to do this until the calf is partly out, as the position they occupy does not offer any resistance to calving, but proceed as follows : Procure a piece of thin, clean, strong rope, such as a plough-line, and pass the end of this through.the double of the leg, which would be the hock-joint; bring this end out, and then tie together both ends of the rope used upon the leg. This, when the same operation has been completed upon the other leg, will prevent one from possibly pulling upon the wrong ends, thereby undoing, all the work. Now proceed to pull on both legs at the same time until, the tips of the hocks appear in sight, then stop. Now introduce the arm and feel for one foot ; place this in the hollow of your hand and ask your assistant to pull upon that leg only, still keeping the foot in your hand. The reason for this will soon become apparent/ as when the leg is nearly out it will straighten itself with such force that but for your hand that part of the cow would probably be seriously injured. Repeat the same with the other leg, then proceed as already advised.

If by reason of the size of the calf or malformation a difficult case is in prospect the services of a veterinarian should be secured, and that before the cow has been subjected to the usual “ Let me have a try ” amateur. Should no veterinarian be within reach the only plan is to try the best you can with the aid of some experienced person, and if failure is evident,. as is sometimes the case even when a professional man is employed, the cow should be mercifully destroyed.

I cannot recommend the taking-away of the calf in pieces unless an experienced man is employed ; neither can I advocate the Csesarean operation (delivery by cutting walls of abdomen) in the cow, even by professional men, unless in exceptional cases, as the operation and after-attention to the cow would in most cases be more expensive to the owner than the value of both cow and calf. When, however, the failure to calve is due to the size of the calf, and the chances are that both may be lost, the owner must decide which to try to save:first having made sure that the calf is still alive. If it is decided to destroy the cow the whole thing must be done expeditiously and finished before the heart of the cow ceases beating, otherwise the calf will die. This being so, everything required for the operation must be handy. The cow should first be placed under the influence of an anaesthetic. . Then turn the animal quickly upon its back and make a long incision along the centre of the belly, extract the calf, and cut the navel-cord about I in. from the calf’s body, after, which slaughter the cow. If the case is an emergency one, and no anaesthetic available, the cow should be stunned, but not bled until after the operation is completed. -

REMOVING A DEAD CALF.

When there is a lack of freshness in any discharge coming from the womb, and especially if such discharge is showing a certain amount of decomposition, the indications are that the calf is dead. It may be here mentioned that a cow may calve a live calf and still carry a dead one for some time after. . In all cases where the calf is dead the following procedure should, be followed before any attempt is made to remove it: Obtain . a bucketful of warm water, into this dissolve a few ounces of soap, add a teaspoonful of disinfectant, then inject the whole of the

solution into the wombthe idea being, to replace the water which has most likely escaped some days previously, leaving the calf dry. The injection acts as a disinfectant and greatly facilitates the expulsion of the calf. Before proceeding to remove a dead foetus heavily smear the hands and arms with soap, butter, or other material as a protection against poisoning and an aid to eliminate the very persistent and disagreeable smell from these after the operation is complete. Should the abdomen of the calf be much swollen, open it with a hook-pointed knife, thus .relieving the accumulated gases. In some cases, especially those of monstrosities, the limbs may have to be broken or the bones of the head crushed, but in no case should the skin be broken, else there is a likelihood of the cow being scratched internally, which under the circumstances would most likely lead to blood-poisoning.

THE CLEANSING.

AH cleansing or afterbirth should be looked for and destroyed, whether healthy or not. However repulsive it may appear, it is a fact that a cow with an abnormal appetite will eat her own or another cow’s cleansing and thereby endanger her own health. Cleansings, although they may be previously healthy, are rapidly attacked by disease-producing germs when exposed to the air. It cannot be too strongly impressed upon the stockowner that cleansings left undestroyed not only encourage stray dogs to come about the place, but are a grave danger to the general health of stock. It is not recommended that afterbirth should be removed immediately the calf is born, as it is beneficial to give the cow a chance to do this without much help, but it is strongly recommended that every cow should be washed out immediately after calving, whether she has cleansed or not. The reason for this is that the lower part of the womb is below the external opening even when the cow is lying down, the result being that although all the solid parts of the cleansings may have come away there is always left a small quantity of fluid material. This may rapidly decompose, especially during hot weather, and blood-poisoning result. No disinfectant need be used at this stage, only a bucketful of water which has been boiled and allowed to cool to blood-heat and into which has been dissolved about 2 oz. of soap.

When the cleansing is retained longer than, say, twelve hours it should be removed. Proceed to do this with the same precautions as those advised before calving. First wash the womb out, but now using a little disinfectant in the water. Then with the left hand pull gently upon the exposed portion of the membranea good hold can be secured by rolling it around a piece of —and with the right hand assist in freeing the membrane from the walls of the womb, without, however, using much force. Should one come across a small patch and be undecided as to what it is, the best course is to leave it alone, but washing-out should be continued every day until all discharge has ceased. If the smell is offensive use more disinfectant.

GENERAL AFTER-CALVING PRECAUTIONS.

The most- successful period for the prevention of disease or for combating disease already established in the womb is within the first twenty-four hours after calving. After this contraction rapidly takes place/and the womb cannot again be effectively washed out until

another calving. To demonstrate this the writer some years ago carried out a number of experiments, using forced and gravitation injections of water containing colouring-matter, upon cows about to be slaughtered, after which the womb was carefully examined and the results noted. These confirmed the opinion just expressed, and clearly showed that the contraction of the womb does not effectually expel all foreign matter, but encloses it in such, a manner as to prevent any washing-out proces reaching it. Therefore every newly calved cow should be washed out soon after calving, as directed. It can do no harm and will save the life of many animals. ' At the same time note that all stains of calving should also be cleansed off the cow, as these are favourable breedinggrounds for disease, which in time is liable to attack the healthy organs.

In conclusion, if the farmer wishes his cows to have a healthy recovery and every chance to again produce he should act on the principle that cleanliness comes first, both in regard to the cow and all appliances used.