Sometimes a calf is unable to be born because he's not positioned properly to come through the birth canal. The cow may take a long time in early labor, or doesn't progress when she starts active labor (straining hard). Knowing when to help is very important. Jeff Hoffman, DVM (a veterinarian near Salmon, Idaho) says you don't want to rush in too fast, "but if you wait too long, the uterus and cervix will start to shrink up again. If the uterus contracts around the calf, you lose room and ability to manipulate the calf if it's not coming properly."

A calf's most deadly enemy in all cases of calving difficulty is time. As a general rule, you can assume he has roughly three to four hours of oxygen supply after the cow begins active labor. After that length of time the placenta starts to detach. On occasion (when no part of the calf can start into the birth canal) the cow won't progress to hard labor and you're not sure why she's taking so long. But a delay in checking her may result in a dead calf.

In many types of abnormal calf position the cow will strain, since abdominal contractions are stimulated as soon as any part of the calf enters the birth canal. His head or legs may come through the cervix but he doesn't progress farther because a leg or the head is turned back, for instance. The cow will continue to strain, putting pressure on the calf. If she's been straining awhile and nothing appears, you need to check.

Determining what's wrong, and figuring out how to manipulate the calf, is a skill that comes with experience. "You need to ‘see' with your hands, to visualize what's going on in there," says Hoffman. "You need to determine if it's a front leg or back leg, and make sure the legs you are pulling are both fronts or both hinds. In a front leg, the two joints bend the same way, and in a hind the joints bend in opposite directions," he explains.

"Sometimes you run into a situation where you can't sort out what's going on," says Hoffman. "You have to keep in the back of your mind that it might be an abnormal calf with a birth defect. Leg joints may be fused and won't straighten (or bend) or there may be abnormal body parts too large to come through the birth canal. I've seen some strange things, such as extra legs coming out of the shoulders." A fetal "monster" with bent spine (tail near the head) and its internal organs exposed is another situation in which the calf must be cut up or delivered by C-section. If you encounter something you can't figure out, call your vet.

Elbow hung up

Occasionally one or both elbows will catch on the cow's pelvis; the foot or feet will only be advanced as far as the calf's nose. Sometimes all you need to do is pull the leg that's not advanced, and it will come unstuck. If it doesn't, you need to push the calf back a little as you rotate that leg and move the elbow up and around--and off the pelvic brim, says Hoffman.

Leg turned back

If one or both legs are turned back, one front foot may appear, or just the nose. If the cow continues to strain, she may push the head through the vulva. You need to be watching and discover the problem before she pushes the head out, or it may be impossible to push the calf back so you can get the legs.

A leg turned back at knee or fetlock is fairly easy to get—after you push the calf back far enough to straighten it—moving the foot outward in an arc over the pelvic brim. A leg turned back at the shoulder is harder to reach and bring forward. You'll need both arms in the cow to accomplish this, holding the calf back as far as you can with one hand while you use the other to lift the leg up and straighten it so it can come into the birth canal.

"Any time you have to manipulate the calf in the uterus, you need to be careful. Always have the hoof cupped in your hand if you have to turn a leg," says Hoffman. "Otherwise it can rupture through the uterine wall if it scrapes it. Those feet are sharper than you'd think, even with the soft feathering over the bottom."

Head turned back

If the front feet appear but there's no sign of his nose, the head may be turned back. Sometimes nothing will show. You must reach in and find out what's wrong. If the head is turned back, get the cow up, if she's down, to give you more room to manipulate the calf, and to get both arms into her. If she won't get up, make sure she is not lying on the side the calf's head is down, even if you have to roll her over. If the calf's head is turned back toward her left flank, for instance, you want the cow on her right side so the head is uppermost rather than down underneath everything.

A head turned back can be a tough challenge. Some stockmen use a head snare (loop of stiff cable to put over the head) to try to guide and pull it into the birth canal. This is risky, however; it may damage the cow's uterus or push the calf's jaw against the uterine lining as you try to pull the head around. A chain or rope loop around the head and through the mouth is also risky because the lower jaw tends to drop open and the calf's teeth can tear the uterus. It's better to just use both hands, holding the calf as far back as you can with one hand while grasping the lower jaw with the other, to bring it up into the birth canal. If you can't quite reach its jaw, you can get hold of the corner of its mouth to bring the head around enough to reach it.

"Using a chain, snare or rope to try to pull the head into the birth canal is a last resort," says Hoffman. "If you are hanging onto the jaw with your hand, you can keep your hand between the teeth and the uterine wall and it's much safer." Sometimes when the head is back, the calf is dead; it didn't respond to uterine contractions and straighten its head and neck.

"Whether the calf is dead or alive, I manipulate the head by hand rather than try to pull it around with anything. Head snares can be especially dangerous and tear up a cow. If you have to pull the head through the pelvis with traction, this often means the calf is too big. You're better off doing a C-section. Sometimes when I arrive at a calving call, I don't get the whole story at first--when the feet and head are out and the calf won't come any farther. As a rule, when you get that far, the cow has enough pelvic room to have the calf. But if someone has already pulled the head through with a chain or snare (because it wouldn't come), this is a different story," says Hoffman.

Calf sideways or upside down

Often a calf will be aimed a little crooked, sometimes due to slight rotation of the uterus. Many will straighten as birth progresses, but if it is completely sideways or upside down you need to push it back into the uterus where there's room to rotate it into correct position. Don't pull him until you've rotated it. If it's a tough job, the calf can help you in providing part of the necessary movement if it's alive. Use one hand to provoke him into moving while you put a rotational twist on its leg with your other hand. To stimulate it to move, press on its eyeballs (which are protected by his eyelids) with thumb and middle finger. This triggers a convulsive reflex movement, which will aid your effort to turn him.

Another thing that helps is to cross its legs before applying traction via leg chains. Push it as far back into the uterus as you can, apply chains, and cross the legs in appropriate direction to turn it as you pull. The crossed legs and chains should become parallel as the calf twists into proper position. If this doesn't turn him enough, push it back again and repeat the process until it's in proper position to be pulled out.

If it's completely upside down and you can't rotate it, it may help to have the cow lying down so you can roll her onto her back while you attempt the rotation. It helps if her hind end is higher than her front. If this doesn't work, or you don't have enough helpers to roll the cow, call your vet. If the vet can't rotate the calf either, then you have the option of a C-section.

Torsion of the uterus

On occasion you'll run into a situation where there's a twist in the birth canal/cervix area and you can't get your hand clear through into the uterus. There are spiral folds of tissue blocking the way. The uterus and its contents have flipped completely over. In this situation you'll need help from your veterinarian.

Time is crucial

Hoffman advises ranchers to go ahead and try to manipulate a head or leg, but not try too long if they can't do it successfully. If you struggle too long, the optimum time to straighten the calf (or even do a C-section and get a live calf) may be past by the time you give up and call the vet.

He's noticed that when it's really cold, he gets a lot more calving calls than when weather is mild. "No one wants to mess with a cow and strip down to check her or manipulate a calf if it's bitterly cold. They'll give it a quick try and then give up and call the vet!"

Reasons some calves aren't aimed right You have to 'see' with your hand. During gestation the calf moves around a lot and can be in any position, until late in pregnancy. By the time labor begins, the calf is lying in a position that takes up least space in the uterus, since he's now very large and there isn't much room. His neck is bent and head tucked close to the body, and legs are flexed; his knees and hocks are bent, with feet drawn close to the body. But when the cow goes into labor, the stimulus of uterine contractions (pressure on the calf) makes him extend his head and neck and forelegs. At the beginning of labor the first part of the calf to press against the cow's cervix is usually his knees, but then his legs straighten and his feet start through it. Problems arise, however, if the calf does not or cannot extend his head and legs to start through the birth canal. If the calf is too big to fully extend his legs or his head, or is already dead, he may not enter the birth canal. A dead calf won't respond to the pressure of uterine contractions. A premature calf may not either, since in that situation the cow's contractions may not be as strong (uterine inertia) and the calf may not be stimulated enough to move and extend its head and limbs.

Pushing a calf back In order to have room to manipulate a calf you must push it back into the uterus. When you put your hand and arm into the cow, however, this stimulates her to strain and push everything against you. If you push hardest during the moments she's not straining (and just try to hold ground as she strains) it will be easier. The simplest way to push a calf back, according to Doc Hatfield (cattle raiser/veterinarian at Brothers, Oregon) is to continually lean your weight against the calf, rather than pushing with brute strength and wearing yourself out. "Put your hand on his head, breastbone, rump (whatever is being presented) and lean steadily. Each time the cow quits straining for a moment, you'll gain a few inches," says Hatfield. It's easier to push a calf back while the cow is standing. It's easier to manipulate a calf if the cow is standing rather than lying with the weight of her abdomen on the uterus. But if she goes down and won't get up, Hatfield says the best thing to do is pull her hind legs straight out behind her. "This forces her to lie on her belly, stifles and brisket. You need a helper to straddle her back (facing to the rear) to hold her tail straight up over her back," says Hatfield. This helps keep the cow in this position (so she can't get up), and pulling her tail straight up reduces her ability to strain. It also puts her hindquarters higher than her front end, which makes it easier to push the calf back into the uterus where there is more room to maneuver and bring his head or legs into proper position, explains Hatfield. After you have pushed/leaned on the calf enough to get it back into the uterus with room to reposition it, you can move its head or leg around—just after one of the cow's contractions and hopefully before she can strain again. "Once you have the legs and head coming properly, reposition the cow onto her right side instead of her belly, with all four legs out to the side, so she can strain effectively and help you deliver the calf," says Hatfield. When it's a tough challenge to manipulate the calf because the cow is straining hard against you, some vets will use an epidural block (anesthetic injected into the spinal column) to keep her from straining. Neither Hatfield nor Hoffman resorts to this, however. As stated by Hoffman, "An epidural just eliminates any help the cow can give you after you get the calf manipulated. With an epidural you don't have to fight all her contractions—which are frustrating when you just about get a leg or head turned and she gives a big push and you lose it again. But I'd rather deal with that and have the help from her straining after I get it straightened out."