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Well, they have proved me wrong again! I reckoned that the bull did not know how to make girl babies, having had 100% boy babies by him until the end of December when Nina produced a heifer. Being Nina this was not without its traumas!
You remember Nina? She was the cow who
lost her first calf as I told you when I started writing this diary. First
sign that this was not going to a normal day was when I turned them out: a
long clear stringy discharge was seen and she then walked the full length of a
12 acre field and back again. We quickly got her away from the other cattle
and popped her in the back paddock where she continued to walk, and walk, and
walk….. The birth proper got under way early evening. Two feet were the first
to appear. Quite normal but they were upside down: normally you would see the
front of the feet, this time I could see the backs! It was a tail first
presentation. Summon the troops; Billy- you remember Billy from the exciting
night that Gilda calved- and our neighbour Kenny. Luckily Stewart was home as
well. Why not the vet? Well, if I could have got a vet it would have been at
least a couple of hours before they got here and only then if I could have
found a motor boat to fetch her. We are blessed on Shapinsay with a lot of
very experienced stockmen. Something like 1500 calves are born on this island
each year.
OK so how did we tackle this breech presentation? Basic problem when the tail comes first is to get the cervix to open up properly. In a normal presentation the head, which is large and bony, being pushed against the cervix and vulva gets everything opened up. In this case Billy used his hands to stimulate the muscles to relax by cupping them so that his knuckles and finger joints pushed against the birth passage. The passage needs to be thoroughly opened up before the calf is pulled out because once the umbilical cord is ruptured the calf need to be out very quickly in order to get her breathing. I am pleased to say that it all went well and half an hour later we had a live healthy calf although she did require some help to get her breathing going.
Six weeks later Daisy produced a pal for Poppy- Tiger Lily. Being Daisy it was done with no fuss and bother although she was a big calf so much so that we thought it was another boy. At the moment I am waiting for Gemma to calf and that will be it until next winter. The sheep are vaguely thinking about lambing- two down seven to go. Some time soon the man from the “Soil” should be here again.