|
Midwife
to a cow in heavy labor is one of the biggest things you’ll ever
do for your herd. You may be surprised at how many times a calf
gets breeched and the cow can’t deliver on her own. She seriously
needs a lot of help and even then it doesn’t always turn out with
best results. It is always wise to watch closely any cow approaching
eminent delivery. Especially a first time delivery for a young cow.
When that moment comes, if she gets into trouble you need to be
close-by. It is then your assistance is so valuable to a successful
delivery.
A breeched birth is when the calf is turned the wrong way, back
feet first or tail first with the legs folded under. Even with the
normal front feet out first, the calf’s nose should come straight
out between its front legs. But, if its head is turned backwards
or side ways, that can make delivery extremely difficult. The cow
will help you as much as possible as her strong labor pains become
real frequent. I have seen dad have to forcefully pull a calf out
with a small mechanical wench. If the force is extreme and depending
where he had to hook on, the cow and calf both could possibly be
severely damaged and a still birth occur.
My
father became one of the best all around do-it-yourself vets I have
ever known. Even though time and experience are good teachers, the
greatest motivator is necessity. Dad learned to do it all. In the
early days professional vets were few and far between, hard to get
in touch with and weeks of waiting for them to come out. I recall
as late as the later 1960's, there was only one vet in the whole
county. So, only in times of greatest dire need, when a situation
became deadly serious; treatment highly technical and prescription
drugs needed, did dad ever call a vet. And that was very seldom.
Growing up on the farm, I worked with dad and he taught me a lot
of basic vet techniques. The first elementary procedure for a child
to learn is the ear marking of animals. It was best done when calves
and piglets were still small. Most all farms and ranches had a registered
ear mark, registered with the county clerk. It involved a slit or
two, or a crop in the ears; perhaps an over bit or an under bit.
My family’s ear mark was an over bit the left; an under bit the
right; with a crop in each ear. After doing all that, the ears were
hacked up pretty badly.
The second important procedure a young farm hand learns is the marking
(castration) of small pigs and calves. A very sharp knife makes
that chore much easier, since a rather precise surgery is preformed
to remove the testicles.
Later, usually in late autumn’s cooler weather, as young helpers
matured and became stronger, they got involved in the dehorning
process. With horned animals, single file and secured in a headlock
chute, a big clipping device similar to large bolt cutters were
used to snip off the horns. Of course, after any of these procedure,
a thick medicated salve was applied to promote rapid healing and
ward off flies, preventing further complications.
Today, I long ago left farm life behind, but I still preform some
simple procedures, such as vaccinations, worming, dipping, shampooing
and killing fleas on my dogs,
cats
and other
small animals.
© Nolan Maxie
"Nolan Maxie"
July 1, 2010 Column
piddlinacres@consolidated.net
|
HOME
