Garry says the impacts of dystocia can be minimized with: -
Appropriate delivery methods. - Identifying compromised calves.
- Administering fluids and oxygen to calves with acidosis. -
Warming chilled calves. - Delivering high-quality colostrum
immediately after birth. - Treating every calf that was exposed
to dystocia as a compromised calf. Appropriate delivery methods
The first part of “intervention” is always examination of the
cow and calf. “This evaluation is what determines whether the
next step is performing some manipulation of the calf, assisting
the delivery, or calling for more help,” Garry explains. “The
cow should be examined with care and attention should be paid to
cleanliness and lubrication.” The employee should intervene with
close examination if the cow has been in stage 1 of labor for
over six hours. Some abnormal deliveries, like uterine torsion,
do not allow the cow to progress into a normal stage 2 of labor.
In other cases, the cow may be in a state of uterine inertia and
will not go in