We have been having way too many calving adventures this year. Thursday night J checked the heifers at 11 pm. One had the water bag out, great. It was 20 degrees with the wind blowing 20-30 mph. He waited 1 1/2 hours and checked again. No progress, great. To the barn she went (J had already put her and a couple others that were close in the barn lot, he is excellent at planning ahead) A quick check revealed that one leg and the head were there, but that left one leg back. I was able to fix that in short order and we pulled it by hand from there.
The problem was that he had gotten a little hypoxic (decrease oxygen to the brain) during the ordeal. It also didn't help that it was 20 degrees with the wind blowing 20-30 mph. Trying to get it to stand just resulted in a limp rear and bracing front. It was clear he wouldn't be able to nurse that night so back to the house for some colostrum. After that he still wasn't very lively. I sort of thought he seemed chilled.
So back to the house for some warming tools. I am pretty sure I have used this hair dryer on goats and calves more than I have on myself.
I also got a blanked and made a make shift tent with a heater blowing into it.
We got his temperature to 98, normal is around 102. He seamed a little stronger and at 3 am we quit and went to bed.
We had to tube feed him a couple of more times, then got him to suck a bottle. It was over 14 hours before he could get up on his own. After that we put the heifer in the chute and helped him nurse. Hopefully, if all is still good tomorrow, we will turn them out.
1 comment:
Adventure is clearly a euphemism for ordeal. I hope he will make it.
Post a Comment