This straightforward article is a stark reminder of the challenges calves experience at birth. DVMs, veterinary staff members, dealers and sales reps should find at least two things they have forgotten or no longer use in their approaches to calves at birth. Dr. Garry offers a simple timetable to ensure a newborn gets started on a successful, healthy life.
Source: Progressive Cattlemen, December 2, 2015.
Frank Garry, a veterinarian and coordinator for Colorado State University’s Integrated Livestock Management, doesn’t mince words on the critical steps needed to manage compromised calves at birth.
“The transition from living inside the uterus to living on the outside is the single most major transition of physiological function that an animal will ever make, literally until the time it dies,” Garry said. “So what I’m hoping to do is crystalize for you why you should be more active, and more consistent, and more frequently applying simple nursing care things that help compromised calves.”
INSIGHTS: This article makes a good foundation to a veterinary calving newsletter, website content and for discussion with cowboys and dairy hands on farms and ranches