Feedback on calving

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DARYL ANN KYLE:

Eleanor Wrigley's "Report from Alberta, Canada" (MOTHER NO. 31) mentioned the problem of "hip-lock" in calving. May I offer a suggestion gleaned from a dairy farmer for whom I milked cows? He kept Holsteins and was breeding a lot of the heifers to exotic beef sires. Now, granted, a Holstein heifer is pretty big as heifers go, but the calves were still large enough to cause trouble during birth . . . mainly hiplock.

One day my dairyman boss told me the following: The average cow's pelvis is not equally wide and deep, and many hip-locked calves will slip out easily if their bodies can be turned 90 degrees. This method also helps alleviate the damage to the hips of the calf which is often caused by forceful pulling . Although I didn't deliver any of the young myself, 1 often watched my employer as he used the above procedure with good success.

Eleanor's suggestion that a cow be bred for offspring of the correct size is surely the safest way to an easy delivery. Problems can, however, arise with any first-calf heifer—including the homesteader's cherished milker-to-be—and the technique of turning the hiplocked fetus is easy and safe for the beginner.

(Incidentally, readers who are raising their own cattle can surely benefit by the use of artificial insemination. Sires are of the highest quality, fees are reasonable, and inseminators are readily available in rural areas. Ask your county extension agent for help in locating this service.)

Once a calf is safely born, MOTHER's children may wish to preserve its mother's beneficial colostrum ("first milk") for the young animal's use instead of eating it themselves. The colostrurn may be refrigerated for a week or more, or frozen and kept for months . . . and it's wise to have a few quarts in the freezer in case your calf gets sick. Small amounts of this vital food mixed with water will often bring dramatic improvement. The same frozen supply is equally handy for starting lambs that are orphaned at birth.

Colostrum can also be pickled. Find a large plastic or unchipped enamel container or crock, put what you don't feed of the first three milkings into the bowl, and let the accumulation stand at room temperature. It will sour and begin to smell like yeast dough (don't use it until this point is reached). The thickened fluid can then be stored in a cool—not freezing—place. At feeding time, mix one part pickled colostrum and one part hot water to make warm milk.