Calving Clinic Caters to Cattle Producers

Calving Clinic Caters to Cattle Producers

Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent

A total of 65 people attended the second free Calving Clinic which was offered at Vegreville Social Centre on February 29.

Rachel Farr, Volunteer for Vegreville Agricultural Society was the Co-ordinator for this cattle clinic where they partnered with Dr. Josh Lawrence and Dr. Daralyn Wiles-Lawrence from the Vegreville Veterinary Clinic.

Farr said they wanted to host this clinic because they noticed a lot of other communities were hosting calving clinics and they wanted to give information to farmers and help them out. “We want to build that relationship with them before calving season.”

Farr then welcomed everyone and said the Ag. Society is passionate about providing agricultural education for everyone. Their mission statement is to promote agricultural ideals, education, and entertainment for community enrichment as a volunteer organization.

This clinic was meant to teach people when they should intervene, give first aid, and what they should do for emergency care during calving.

Dr. Daralyn walked people through the three stages of labour for cows which are cervical dilation that last an average of six hours; heifers are a bit longer, the next stage is expulsion of the fetus which usually lasts one to two hours and a bit longer in heifers, and the third stage is expulsion of the placenta (after birth). A complication could be a retained placenta which is a placenta that has not left the cow after 12 to 24 hours. A common myth is people should pull the placenta out but if this is pulled it could damage or tear the cow’s uterus. It is best to treat the infection rather than the retention and let the placenta come out on its own.

Afterwards, Dr. Daralyn mentioned a person should call a vet at the first sign of trouble and if no progress is made within 15-30 minutes while intervening. Then there could be dystocia which is obstructed labour and can be caused by immature heifers, anatomic abnormality of the heifer or cow, breed, an oversized calf, abnormal position of the calf or calves, and other factors.

Heather Rempel, Registered Veterinary Assistant does a hands-on demonstration on calving.

(Rosanne Fortier/photo)

After delivery, a person should check for twins, triplets, check for excessive bleeding (there will be blood but excessive should be controlled), post partum issues, and uterine prolapsed.

If this happens, call the vet and minimized movement.

Dr. Josh continued on to explain about Bovine Colostrum which has high levels of immunoglobulin in it because calves are born, at birth they have no antibodies for defending against foreign bugs (viruses). The calves which need colostrums supplementation are calves that have rejecting mothers or other factors.

Everyone was treated to lunch then which was catered by VALID. Vegreville 4-H Multi-Club volunteered to help during the day and with the clean-up.

In the afternoon, there were handson demonstrations on calving and what to do in certain situations. Sharmon Holyk said she wanted to attend this calving clinic because they have cattle and she felt it is always good to learn all they can about this. “I found the clinic to be very informative. It related to some of the stuff we have already done but it helped us to know how we can improve upon some of the things that we already knew.”

McKenna Makowecki said she attended the workshop because her finance’s family has cattle and she wanted to know everything she can about this and she enjoyed the clinic as it was a nice Calving 101.

Kevin Bentley said as a Councillor for the County of Minburn and a cattle producer, said he felt it was terrific that they offer this course as it is an excellent course and it is great for the community to have something like this.