July 1, 2001 ~ What a night
Emma, one of our sweetest cows, had a breech delivery tonight. Butt first, just a tail sticking out of the mama, no feet in sight. Had to call Dr. Tom, who came out quick as quick can be, with his chains and odd-looking devices, all set to pull the calf. And that's literally what happened. He reached inside Emma with both arms, turned the legs so that they were coming out right, attached the chains and the other stuff, and slowly pulled the calf out. It swallowed fluid on its way out, lots of fluid, and had trouble breathing. Larry and Tom picked up the calf, hung it over the fence and tried to clear all the gunk from its nose and throat. It's still not doing great, but we hope it will be okay. Emma did not seem to be bonding well with the baby (a heifer -- a little girl).
It was an interesting night. We've had other difficult deliveries but have been able to handle them ourselves. Tom was afraid this calf might have already been dead, though, and it might have gotten very nasty. You probably don't want to know any more.
Larry just went out to check on the baby one more time. Keep your fingers crossed, would you?
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