DISTOCIA - CALF MANAGEMENT
DISTOCIA - CALF MANAGEMENT PRACTICES.
Hey Guys.. It's quite a while I dropped a post here. I have been quite busy with school and it's ups and downs. Today, I wrote a test.. pharmacology to be precise and believe me when I tell you it went well - the very first time I laughed after a pharmacology test, my whole life, lol.
This blog is about Veterinary Medicine for a reason - to disseminate information that would be of great help, on how people are to take care of their animals and definitely themselves. At the beginning, I thought it well to focus on zoonoses - diseases that can be "transferred" from animals to humans and that is why I have so far focused on health in human beings. It is only a man that is healthy that will take care of his animals. That being said, I hope you are not confused on why posts that have emanated from this blog centred around humans. Vets also bridge that gap between these animals and humans.
However, today, we shall be talking briefly about how to help animals. Before I do that, I will love to tell you a very short story. Kindly read on. In fact, this story prompted me to write this.
Few days ago, I visited a friend who lives in a village next to mine. I just noticed it's being a very long time I saw him and I was already missing him, so I had to go see him. And , of course, he was Happy when we met but I noticed that some form of gloominess covered his face and then I inquired what the problem was. He told me what the problem was and this is it. He has a cow who was pregnant and he said a week before I visited, the Cow calved.. but he noticed the calf was not breathing well and then died. It's a very sad one because I know I would have been of help if I was around and he was also sad because he didn't really know what to do. I had to tell him what he should do the next time any occurrence like that pops up. Then , I feel I should share it on my blog so that anyone it could be of help to as many that set their eyes on this piece.
DISTOCIA is simply difficulty in parturition (the act of giving birth in animals). When this occurs, both the cow and calf (in my friend's case) get stressed. And then, after delivery, the calf must have been stressed that a lot of bad signs could be seen. In cases like this, these are the first things to do;
1. STIMULATE RESPIRATION IN THE CALF- Calves that are not breathing in the first thirty seconds after birth need intervention so they don't die of hypoxia (a condition of inadequate or no oxygen at all). To do this, Al you need to do is sit the calf on its sternum, clear the nostrils of every mucus in there. You can poke the nasal airways with straw or something that looks like straw.. this will induce the gasping reflex and this automatically allows air to be forced down the airways. This way, the animal begin to breathe. Once the animal begin to breathe on its own, and by itself, a lot of work has been done
2. PROMOTE CIRCULATION OF BLOOD- Also, it maybe that blood that is supposed to carry oxygen to the various organs of the body of the animal is not even flowing. If this is the case, the air the animal is taking in via the nostril would not be distributed to the organs and cells that are constantly in need of oxygen. To achieve promotion of blood circulation, vigorously rub the head and body of the animal with a very clean towel. This will stimulate the movement of blood.. especially to the brain that needs a lot of oxygen to survive.
3. BOOST BODY TEMPERATURE - One of the very functions of our muscles.. both of humans and animals is temperature generation. But, an animal that's delivered after a difficulty in parturition may lost the tone of their muscles and therefore generating heat would be a problem. This may even be a very big problem in cold weather. Place this kind of animals under direct sunlight to increase the body temperature of the animal. You can also use infrared heaters. You can place them in a warm bath also. This is to improve the temperature and also oxygen level and even respiratory rate.
4. MONITOR INJURIES - Calves that are aided mechanically during dystocia maybe predisposed to some injuries. Injuries like fracture, dislocation, lacerations, Bruises, etc. They may occur on joints, legs, ribs, spinal cord, vertebral column, etc. Note that these injuries may not be obvious or apparent at first but with careful palpations, pains get elicited and you can find out that way. Provide pain management and other supportive therapies.
5. COLOSTRUM - Make sure to feed colostrum as fast as possible. Colostrum is that "first milk" after calving. Make sure that the calf gets access to it as much as possible. A lot of antibodies are passed from the cow to the calf through it. Also note that calves that got wedged in the birth canal for several hours may have issues with their tongue and associated organs. They may not be able to suckle themselves but they really need this colostrum. So what you are to do is to help deliver this colostrum via oesophageal feeders.
If all the above were done correctly for my friend's calves, there's a likelihood that it would have survived. At least, he didn't know, but, now you know.
I will also want to seize this opportunity to advise you to invest in animal farming. They have high return of investments, especially with the way this economy is.. Buy Goats.. rear them. Buy Sheep, rear them. If you have the means, by Cattles, rear them.. You can even rear rabbits. Poultry business is also outstanding.
Till we get to the promised land, I shall be waiting for when you'll pass me a glass of water and thank God for the gift of grace for the race.