Calving Class a unique experience

Last week, University of Idaho Extension program veterinarian Lauren Christensen made a circuit around southeastern Idaho, accompanied by Caribou County’s Justin Hatch and Oneida County’s Sawyer Fonnesbeck.

Christensen, whose home base is in Moscow at the Extension Office research facility, visited communities around southeastern Idaho in the additional company of a large model cow and a smaller model calf.  The two are used to demonstrate birthing issues and techniques, included fetal repositioning, extraction for necropsy, positioning twins, using various tools to assist in birthing, and more.

Prizes and food were sponsored by Idaho Ag Credit and IFA.

Dr. Lauren Christensen—DVM, MS, DACVPM—teachers undergrad vet students in the University’s nationally renowned Ag program, and has gained a lot of experience with what can happened during live births in the process.  Moscow has a fulltime research center operating throughout the year, with a focus on research that will aid farmers and ranchers across the country.  

As part of the Extension Office’s mission to support and coordinate with the ag community in Idaho, Christensen and the extension educators were happy to bring unique resources to towns in the heart of Idaho’s ag land.  While the life-size birthing models were truly astonishing in their design and construction, the knowledge and experience of Dr. Christensen was just as
impressive. 

The same class was held later in the day in Oneida County.

At the meeting in Grace at the Event Center, Christensen largely answered questions from the large group of ranchers that had taken the morning to attend the session.  

Issues such as breach births, twins, disease problems, prolapses, medication issues, were discussed throughout the morning, with Christensen answering questions as they came up and using examples from ranchers across the state to make her points.   

One thing that was discussed in detail, and demonstrated with the models, was the technique referred to as a “Madigan Squeeze.”  This is performed with a series of half-hitch knots across the chest and abdomen of the calf, and is intended to “kickstart” a reluctant or slow calf’s responses to stimuli.  It was developed by a horse vet as a way to fix “dummy foals”.  This tricks dummy foals into thinking that they are being born when they are suffering from “neonatal maladjustment syndrome.”  The basic idea is that the animals are supposed to know they are outside the uterus naturally.  These are calves that are “dopey” and can’t figure out what to do. The Madigan Squeeze has been used with decent luck to get the animals over the confusion.  A series of half-hitches go across its chest for twenty minutes and is then taken off.  About half the time “they have a lightbulb moment.”   Christensen suggests that “if you’re already doing chores, just set a timer—it’s not a big thing.”

Other questions ranged from things like “Do moms that are babied tend to have fewer problems?” (the ultimate answer was basically, no, they tend to not do as well with their calves), to whether it’s true that sugar really works in the case of uterine prolapse (it turns out that it really does, although it’s more commonly used on sheep than cows), to whether lidocaine has a safe range for tailblocks (Christensen stated that more than 10cc should be avoided as it can cause respiratory distress).  She noted that for wounds, her favorite thing to put on them was honey.  “I have fixed so many things with honey.  If you’ve got someone who keeps bees, that crystal kind is my favorite to use.  It’ll kill bacteria, and can be amazing if you have a good supply of it,” Christensen said.

Christensen also provided an overview of what ranchers should be aware of when preparing cadavers for necropsy and performing them. As she explained, since every animal that dies on campus automatically gets a necropsy, she “is very fortunate to open up a lot of things.” Dead fetuses can cause a number of issues if they are not naturally expelled by the mother, or if the process takes an overly long time and the mother is exposed to necrotic tissue internally.

Christensen advised attendees to observe the situation in which the animal is located as closely as possible.  Whether the calf had been licked off can be a critical piece of information, as well as any evidence of movement after birth or animal predation.  She suggested that ranchers take pictures to bring to their vets, as well as the animal itself.  She explained what to look for in critical locations like the stomach areas and other organs.  

Mastitis and other lactation issues were discussed, as were various questions about navel-dipping and the use of antibiotics in neonatal cows.

When the tour got to Malad, many of the same questions and concerns were raised.  There were, however, a number of younger guests so the birthing models were used to their fullest.  In groups, a number of younger ranch kids were given the chance to try their hand at repositioning a breach calf, using chains, and experiencing a simulated birth process.

All in all, it was a very informative day and a lot of specific questions were answered for people who were happy to meet with a high-level group of experts.