Stuck in Reverse

“Get the Vet!”

And I thought the most amazing Black Friday surprise would be the spectacular sunrise and beautiful photo ops after our first major snowfall.

Wrong.

Shat Acres Cinnamon Taffy did not calve on the due date I had written down for her. She did not calve during our entire calving season. We assumed Taffy would not produce a 2024 calf. Around the 1st of November Taffy began showing signs that she was bred. Quite bred. She was brought from general population closer to the barn. Three days ago, Ray moved Taffy into a clean, straw filled pen in the barn. Highlands are a hearty breed and most of our cattle live outdoors year-round--except when calving, being weaned, or for vet care. Ray had a feeling Taffy might be getting close to calving.

This morning when doing chores, Ray noticed a small water sac hanging from Taffy’s vulva. There was fluid and tissue in the pen that looked oddly like afterbirth. Ray wondered if Taffy had already calved, and searched for a new arrival that might have slipped out of the pen in the barn. No calf. Taffy did not seem distressed or in labor. These signs were concerning.

Taffy was put into our Hi Hog squeeze chute for an internal and closer inspection. That's when the call came to me from the barn.

"We need the vet. And fast."

When Ray says we need a vet, we need a vet. Farming his entire life, fifty-eight of those years with Highland cattle and assisting many cows deliver their calves, he knows when there is need for assistance and time is critical. Our vet knows when Ray requests assistance, it is serious. Even on Black Friday, with two days of vet work to catch up on after being closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, we were told a vet would be dispatched to our farm right away.

Despite snow covered and slippery roads, Dr. Murray and vet tech Brooke arrived thirty minutes after I placed the call. Pulling on a sterile, shoulder-length sleeve and liberally applying lubricant, Dr. Murray thrust her arm into Taffy who was waiting in the squeeze chute. The vet struggled to reach farther and farther into the abyss.

“I found the feet. They are the back feet. And she is not dilated.”

This news did not forebode a good outcome.

After another half hour of internal prying and manipulating Dr. Murray got one foot far enough down into the birth canal for Ray to slip a looped chain over the first backwards hoof. With Ray keeping pressure on the chain so the hoof did not slip back inside, Dr. Murray finally got hoof #2 far enough out to slip the chain loop on. The vet pulled on one chain hook, Ray the other, and I slid a lubricated hand around the vaginal opening trying to enlarge it for what we hoped would soon be, for better or worse, a calf’s appearance into the world outside the womb.

We hoped beyond hope it would be alive when it did.

With a final heave the buttocks finally cleared the constricted opening, followed rapidly by slippery shoulders and head. Despite the opposite desired progression of body parts from momma Taffy, her bull calf arrived. Alive! After vigorously rubbing him with clean cloths to get him breathing, and suctioning fluid from his nostrils, we all breathed a collective, exhausted, sigh of relief.

Despite having Highlands for nearly six-decades we are always learning. Dr. Murray explained that Taffy has a large uterus, that the calf was situated at the far end and became stuck because of the positioning. We learned it is the calf moving into the birth canal that triggers labor and dilation of the cervix and vaginal opening. With the calf stuck in reverse, this had not happened and explained why Taffy had shown no signs of labor.

If I had not noticed that Taffy was beginning to look quite pregnant, if Ray had not decided to put Taffy into the barn, if he had not noticed unusual discharge in the pen, if we had not had a squeeze chute available, if Taffy was not docile and trusting enough to go into the chute--but most of all if we were not blessed to have amazingly caring and competent vets so proximal to assist when needed, we would have lost not only our new little boy but momma Cinnamon Taffy too.

Our newest arrival will need some help over the next few days. Because his front end was so cramped at the top of the uterus his front feet “knuckle under.” Walking is difficult because the tendons that straighten his front hoofs became contracted. Calves usually recuperate from this on their own, but he will need help with nursing because at present holding himself erect is challenging. This evening Taffy was returned to the chute. Ray milked out her precious colostrum and her little boy eagerly drank two quarts of that liquid gold from a bottle. We will see how he is in the morning. He will certainly need assistance with feeding again, but in time we hope he will be fine and nursing on his own. Taffy is a wonderful mother, patient with her little one that right now needs extra TLC, and most likely grateful for the skill and assistance of her caregivers that saved her little boy.

With our brand-new (today!) barn cameras, we are mesmerized watching Taffy licking and loving on her little Black Friday, encouraging him to stand and practice walking on those unsteady legs so that he might soon be able to nurse on his own.

We did not intend to go treasure hunting on Black Friday, but in the end hit the jackpot.

What treasure did you find on Black Friday 2024?

Bry

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Not all farming days are good days.