Problems Resolved

Things don't always work out like you want so you adapt.  

We had a first calf heifer Joe thought was thinking about calving Thursday morning.  He went back later and she she had not done anything so he got her up and called me.  I left work early and we headed out to the farm to check.  (the fall calving cows are at a farm about 15 minutes from the house) She still had not done anything, just walking around.  We were worried about the possibility of a backwards calf.  We got her in the chute and I checked, fully dilated, no calf in birth canal and the placenta had not ruptured.  I found two feet, soles pointing upward and thought it was going to be backwards.  I got the chains on and pulled a little and checked again, I found the head, down and to the left.  It was an upside down calf, not backwards.  So I crossed the chains, pulled some more and got it lined up to come out.  Since Joe and I can't pull as much as we use to we were going to use the calf jack.  

And since we have had some wrecks in the chute with cows going down when you start to pull, Joe wanted to let her out and tie her to the fence.  The only problem was she wouldn't stop fighting the rope and we couldn't get her snugged up tight.  

When we went to put the calf jack on, the 50+ year old rope that was tied to the halter broke.  Now we had a loose, mad cow.  

Joe was able to get her back in the chute and we were able to jack the calf out and the cow didn't go down.  Unfortunate, the calf was now dead. 

We left her and the calf in the lot overnight.  The next morning we brought another twin we had been feeding.  

Joe skinned the dead one and used it to disguise the new one.  

The heifer wasn't too sure about this.  

And the calf didn't really like the hide but was enjoying his freedom from the dog pen in the barn where he had been staying.  

So, back into the chute and the calf went to town nursing.  Joe said the heifer liked him by that evening.  

And then checking on the other cows, there was one on the wrong side of the fence.  On closer inspection, she had calved in the field she should have been in and then got through the fence but the calf didn't.  Since it was easier to deal with the calf than the cow, Joe just put it through the fence to be with mom.  So at least that possible disaster was averted.