10/27/2026
What a morning!! 😅
We’ve been waiting for this baby from Fonio, and of course it was backwards, and all Brad could feel was the tail and butt, legs tucked under!
How did we know Fonio needed help? Bloody mucus, this is ALWAYS a red flag 🚩 and it doesn’t hurt to check and make sure baby is in position, so we hauled her to the barn.
Brad got the baby pushed forward and legs pulled back and chains on, Fonio at this point was in a half crouched position trying to lay down. We couldn’t get her to stand and with only the babies legs out she laid down!
I was expecting a dead calf. Chip and Brad both pulled and got the baby out while Fonio stayed laying down.
She’s alive! The baby is alive!
Next call was to our vet because my first thought was backwards baby equals uterine or cervical tear.
Vet came out and he could feel a small tear, she had bright red bleeding and a few blood clots. He didn’t think it was bad enough to warrant more than some antibiotics, pain meds and keeping an eye on her for the next 2-3 days.
Signs to watch for
Bright red bleeding or persistent blood clots
Straining after delivery
Weakness, rapid breathing, or elevated heart rate
Pale or white gums
Cold ears or extremities
Abdominal pain, bloating, or reluctance to move
Foul-smelling discharge or fever developing later
A cow can have a significant uterine rupture without showing all these signs.
Things that helped this entire situation:
We AI’d her and knew her due date
We checked her every few hours because we knew she was getting close
We trusted our gut and didn’t try to “give her more time”
How did I know this could possibly be an emergency after pulling the calf backwards? Experience.
Hopefully 🤞 this post helps someone else and they don’t have to learn the way we did the first time this happened to us 😔
Happy ending and I can’t quit smiling because she looks black, but she’s actually a really dark reddish black and so cool looking!