Cattle producers can improve calf health and survivability by decreasing the negative effects of a difficult calving
New beginnings and hope start with each calving season but sometimes things can go awry.
About five percent of calves are assisted at birth and about four percent are either born dead or died in the first day of life, according to information gathered from the Western Canadian Cow-Calf Surveillance Network.
The numbers are low but there is room for improvement.
By decreasing the negative effects of a difficult calving, calf health and survivability are improved. Better cow-calf production follows, says veterinarian Jennifer Pearson of the University of Calgary faculty of veterinary medicine. Pearson recently completed her PhD at the University of Calgary investigating the impacts of calving management, calf risk factors and difficult calving on the health and performance of beef calves.
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Good calving management and timely intervention may improve calf well-being. Getting calves out gently into a clean environment is key.
“Cows like to calve alone and they don’t like to have a lot of distractions around them. We are disrupting their calving progress,” she said.
However, timely intervention is important to ensure success, although the producer may not be sure when the cow went into labour.
“We would like to intervene sooner or later. We want to make sure she is fully dilated,” she said.
Pearson said most calf deaths that happen before weaning occur in the first couple days after birth and about 30 to 50 percent of all calf deaths are associated with a difficult birth or caesarean section.
Previous studies have estimated about half of calf deaths occurring at birth could have been prevented if timely intervention and assistance had occurred.
Do not wait longer than an hour if a cow is not making progress during calving or intervene earlier if the calf is malpresented, such as coming backward or has a leg turned back.
Calves experiencing a difficult birth can have muscle and soft tissue trauma, such as bruising and swelling of their limbs, head and body from the compressive forces of either the birth canal or calving equipment. Many of these traumatic injuries are not visually noticeable.
In severe cases, calves can experience bone fractures to their legs, ribs and hips due to too much force being placed on them when pulled, Pearson wrote in an email.
“Producers will often notice if the leg is fractured,” she said in an interview.
Cattle are stoic and hide pain quite well.
“Some of these calves may experience injuries that we may not be aware of,” she said.
A study on respiratory diseases in dairy calves using ultrasound found five percent had healing rib fractures that were likely associated with a difficult birth.
Bad fractures could lead to euthanasia, such as when the calf’s hip is locked and the top of the hind leg and pelvis is fractured.
A study on the impacts of difficult births found elevated levels of biomarkers for muscle trauma, decreased calf vigour and an increased risk of inadequate transfer of passive immunity because they did not get enough good quality colostrum.
Cows experiencing a difficult birth may need extra care.
They can also experience bruising and swelling of the birth canal after a difficult birth, and in severe cases they can experience nerve damage to the hind legs causing them to go down and they cannot stand. They may also take longer to rebreed.
“Cows that have an assisted delivery have an increased risk of uterine tears and injuries,” she said.
To prevent uterine infections, try to be as clean as possible, wear obstetrical plastic sleeves and keep the area clean. Cows often clear any potential infections themselves.
“We don’t recommend putting that cow on antibiotics unless the vet has inspected her and has decided it is necessary,” she said.
Sometimes human intervention has caused the trauma.
Using calving equipment incorrectly or placing too much force on a calf to pull it leads to increased trauma, increased risk of bone fracture, or stillborn calves. The force applied to a calf delivered using a calf jack is double the force applied while being pulled by hand. When used appropriately, a calf jack can be a lifesaving tool but when used incorrectly, it can cause increased trauma to the calf and cow, Pearson wrote.
A study is underway to measure the different forces between hand pulling and using a calf jack.
“These are good tools but make sure they are used appropriately to not hurt the cow or calf,” she said.
Pearson was involved in a recent study on pain relief after a difficult birth. The cow-calf survey found about 45 percent of producers in Western Canada are using pain mitigation after a difficult calving in the cow and the calf.
As part of her doctoral work, she studied the impacts of using pain mitigation products like Metacam in calves after an assisted calving. There were no improvements in physiological indicators of pain and inflammation in calves administered pain mitigation at birth, but there was an increase in average daily gain in calves receiving Metacam in the first week of life.
Producers in a large field trial blinded to the medication given to calves at birth reported improvements in calf vigour, the cow-calf bond, and faster pair turn-out times from the barn in calves that received pain mitigation compared to those that received a placebo.
An upcoming study in this calving season will be the first to investigate the use of pain mitigation in the beef cow and calf after a difficult birth and how pain mitigation may improve the cow-calf bond.
The next step is to make sure calves are at least sitting up 15 minutes after birth.
If the calf does not get up right away veterinarians no longer recommend producers hang calves upside down or over a fence because it may do more harm than good.
This was done because fluid was coming out of the calf’s nose or mouth and people assumed it came from the lungs. The fluid actually comes from the stomach. When it is hung upside down this inhibits breathing by compressing its chest with all the abdominal contents pressing against the diaphragm. This prevents normal lung expansion.
Instead, it is better to place a calf in a sternal recumbency position where it is sitting upright with its front legs tucked under and the hind legs stretched forward toward its ears. This helps normal breathing occur.
“The chest on each side can fully expand and breathe. If it is laying on its side it is only breathing on one side of its chest,” she said.
A calf can also be stimulated with a vigorous rub, clearing the nose and mouth of mucous with fingers or a towel, or tickling the nostrils with a stiff piece of straw to encourage sneezing. An acupuncture point is found in the middle of the muzzle of the calf below the nostrils and when poked repeatedly it can stimulate a gasping breath.
A little splash of cold water in the ear can also wake them up.
