Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Calf Extraction

This is what we call "pulling a calf".
When we are out observing the heifers, which is 24/7, if you see an issue. Like she is not progressing in a timely manner, maybe a leg is back, meaning they are not coming out even, backwards, calf too big or something else. We bring her into the barn in the pulling pen. Tie her up and get all the necessary tools ready and straw a pen for her and baby.

The heifer in the pulling pen. The gate on the right is the one that slammed me into the wall and broke my wrist. Got some expensive hardware in the wrist now!


You can see this calf had a leg back. The shoulders aren't evenly compressed inside mama so she can't push him out. With a cow, they know how to manipulate the calf to get them lined up. Cameron puts the calf chains and hooks on his legs above the dew claws.


Gives a pull on one leg, then the other. Now they are even.


Mama decided she wanted to lay down. We prefer she were standing. If laying down, its best if she's on her side.

Here comes the head. The white is his face. And yep his tongue is sticking out.


And the rest of baby. Cameron is working with mama. Not just pulling and yanking. When she contracts, he pulls, gently. Then rests, then contracts, pull.





Swish! Welcome to the world little one. Mama and baby are doing great. She had a bull calf that weighed 86 pounds. I had posted a C-section, but I can't find it!



Thanks for stopping by. 


8 comments:

  1. I'm so glad mama and baby are doing well. It can get bad I know. Sweet little one! Hope your wrist feels and heals quickly!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post and good info. 86lbs.! Nice job Mama cow. I bet she's thanking you for the help Cam. M
    Ok now pics of the broken wrist. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice job of the photos....and info. I sure hope your wrist mends quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Birth is a miracle, isn't it? I'm glad all are doing well. So far, we haven't had to pull any this year, knock on wood!

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Been there done that" I am so happy it worked out well. That is a mean looking gate:) Great post more should see sometimes help is needed and we know what we are doing. Hug B

    ReplyDelete
  6. Pretty wild, looks like it was hard to pull out.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I hope your wrist heals soon! Wow this is so awesome :) you helped bring it into the world :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. You make this one sound easy but lots of times it gets pretty serious.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the ranch.