Twisted

In case you’ve wondered…

Yes, calving season is cruising along.

We have calved all but 9 of our heifers… so we still are doing our evening, 2 am, and early morning checks. Last week our cows started calving as well. We do not check them in the night, but do try to keep a close eye on them. Vernon will usually drive his 4 wheeler through the different bunches, counting, seeing if any are missing and possibly hiding in the brush calving. Most cows will try to go off by themselves during this time. Dogs will den, cows will be alone in a protected area.

Yesterday he saw a cow with signs she was about to calve… she was alone… and had the unmistakable kink in her tail. That was before lunch. He checked after lunch. No progress. He checked her later… still no progress. That’s rather unusual. He quietly trailed her into the corral, and came and got me.

We put her in the chute and Vernon slid his hand in a long vet “sleeve” or plastic glove that extends clear to his shoulder. Upon investigation, he had to reach *way* up inside her and then his hand began to turn. That’s not good… It signals a twisted uterus. There was no way that calf could be born. Twisting can happen if a cow falls down on the ice just at the right moment and the uterus can flip… but we haven’t had much ice this year. Sometimes *poop* just happens.

Plan B. Vernon loads her in the horse trailer and I drive her to the vet in Worland. It is an hour’s drive, and we simply had to hope that the calf wasn’t dead from stress.

We arrive and begin the c-section process. This is a good ol’ cow… and she stands patiently in the chute, munching on corn, unconcerned.