Agriculture Victoria Livestock Development Officer Hannah Manning said during calving season regular monitoring of cows was important to pick up any that were having trouble calving.
“Once a farmer has found a problem and brought the cow in to help, I work on a 20-minute intervention rule.
“A farmer’s strength, a calving jack or a calving pulley are the only acceptable methods to pull a calf, even then you need to be a competent operator.
“There is no point having the equipment if you haven’t had training on how to use it, and if a calf is stuck or not lined up properly then more force isn’t the answer,” she said.
“Don’t forget, if you’re helping with a calving, wearing gloves is a great way to reduce your exposure to any diseases that can affect humans, and it keeps things cleaner for the cow.
“If significant progress in pulling the calf hasn’t been made in 20 minutes, it’s time to stop and come up with an alternative plan.”
Dr Manning said calling your local vet early would be the best result for the cow and calf.
“Good facilities that are safe for you and anyone else helping is vital.
“It’s amazing how effective a vet can be with drugs in improving the whole situation. If calling your local vet isn’t an option, is there someone else you can call or do you need to make some tough decisions?”
She said the top consideration at all times is the welfare of the cow.
“Tough calvings can result in calving paralysis and down cows are a poor result and require a lot of skill and time to care for properly.”
There is more information available on the Agriculture Victoria website at www.agriculture.vic.gov.au
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