Normally they calve well on their own; in fact, all the older mothers have had their calves, no

bother. Nice sized calves that slide out and plop on the ground before you even get there. The

next you know the baby is up on its feet having a drink.

Last week we had our first bad do with a heifer (first time calving) that somehow had a big

calf. Unfortunately by the time we got the calf out it was dead. A few days later the cow

popped out its 'calf bed' or in layman’s terms, turned herself inside out.

There isn’t much you can do with a cow that has its womb on the outside of its body. If it was

a sheep, you can pick it up with its back legs and it sort of slurps back in and you then put a

prolapse guard on it to stop it coming out again till it gets better.

Cows object a lot if you try to pick them up with their back legs so it is best not to try.

Besides that, they are big and heavy! Perhaps that is the real reason....!! The only way out for

that poor cow, was the knacker man.

Yesterday another young cow began to calve and today it was obvious that there was again

too much calf and not enough cow.

This time we called in the vet, Graham and his assistant, student Gareth. This was the first

time the vet had done a 'c' section with a student and not another vet. I have to say, both did

well.

The operation began with an injection of a sedative/pain killer that sent the cow into its

version of happy land while the vet began to shave the operation site.

As you can see his hand was going so fast it was a blur....on the other hand it might have to

do with the fact I was using my phone camera and it wasn’t that good a picture.

Next they washed and disinfected the operation site again that little vet was working really

fast...

This was the pack of implements with the tiny scalpel blade on the top, at the front of the

picture. They had a separate handle for that but it was very sharp. You can see all the scissors

and just make out the needles under them. The needles were stuck in one of those blue cloths.

This is the string now ready for stitching the cow up with after

..............then the cutting begins with the skin

Then through two layers of muscle

And the pericardium which is the last barrier before you get to the internal organs. Then you

can dig in the calf is a long way down inside there

And see if you can shift the stomach because the womb and the calf are behind that...then you

start snipping. The pink thing you can see below is the gut. The womb is under that and the

vet is holding it back while the student snips a hole in it

Then, dig in to find the calf and pull. These are the back legs

Then the body

Then the rest of it all covered in the sac and gunk

It’s a boy..!!

There it is....she is letting it all hang out. They need it there so they can stitch her up. First

they get rid of some of the afterbirth and it drops onto the floor

The thing sticking out of its mouth is the tongue. It had been stuck for a while and there was a

bit of swelling in its head. I don’t think we could have waited much longer to get it out or it

would have been dead.

Now comes the big stitch up....

That is the womb done....looking good. The anaesthetic did not reach so far in but this

membrane does not have nerve endings in the same way as other tissue and so, the cow feels

nothing as he stitches her up. She didn’t feel him cutting her either. Good job really.

Next the muscle layers get stitched together

Very neat,

The second muscle layer

Then the skin

All done

All tidy now

And here is the proud but battle scared vet Graham

And the plucky and willing student Gareth after he painted our new mum blue

Mother and son now doing well. She has a bottle of antibiotics and more happy land drugs

for a while.

Many thanks to our vets