Jeepers Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 I just watch a live (internet) birth of a new baby horse. It was awesome. The place where they sent Barberosa (sp) had a webcam on one of their pregnant horses for the past couple of weeks. I guess she was sort of special because they took one sperm and one egg and mixed it and then implanted it in her. One year later a 104 pound colt was born. I learned so much watching it. She was having a dry birth and they had to pump water in her to keep things moving. Then the baby was stuck and they had to get the chains and pull him out. He didn't stand up on his own so they had to get him up. Then he didn't nurse right away so out came the hose. He is just fine now though. Whew! Now a pregnant Great Dane is due to deliver any day now and I'm waiting to coach her along. LOL. Also the owls, hawks and eagles have eggs! Still waiting for the herons to return. This is the best thing about springtime for me. Quote Link to comment
Jeepers Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Yep. A lot of large farm animals need help getting the babies out. It wasn't as gruesome as it sounds though. It looks like a medium size chain with a stirrup on both ends. They used two. One person wrapped the chain around one fore leg and another person wrapped a chain around the other leg. Then they each held onto the stirrup ends and when the mare had a contraction, they pulled with all of their might. Kind of like a tug of war. I've seen it in the movies but never 'live'. It probably saved the mother and the baby's life because baby was wedged in tight. They turned it once but it didn't help. Good thing to know and was awesome to witness. Quote Link to comment
Annarchy Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 We had a heifer that breached. They had to use chains. Sadly, in her case, we lost both the mother and the calf. She had apparently began birthing in the middle of the night and the calf suffocated. It was very sad to witness. Nice to hear it worked for the one you saw Jeepers. Quote Link to comment
CrabGrassAcres Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Got babies all over the place here. I've had to assist with a few births. Last yr one of the does had twins and one had nose and foot out and the other had a foot out. Both heads wedged tight. I had to lay down on the ground and shove my arm way inside to untangle them and push one out of the canal with the doe straining against me. I had a pounding migraine after all that. Quote Link to comment
Jeepers Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Annarchy. I'm sure a lot of people would have been devastated if that would have been this outcome. I was thinking they might turn the camera around if that would have happened. Don't know though. The place was well monitored with 'state of the art' machines and people. CGA, I imagined you have had to pull a lot of kids too! One of the vets there was also shoulder deep in horse. Noel the Dane is about to deliver. It should be any time tonight. Her 'mom' brought in a mattress for her comfort. Now there is a big hole in it from her nesting procedure. She has torn up a mattress and some fluffies and stuffies. ON. Someone just called in to complain that one of the animals is 'irritated'! One year someone called the police to complain of animal cruelty when one of the danes was giving birth. They actually had to go the farm to check it out. This is a place that is on live internet 24/7 with tons of staff and volunteers. The puppies are never left alone. They have volunteers who stay all night and sit up with them. The other dogs are monitored on their closed circuit computers. AND it all happens in this woman's home on her 12 acre farm. And there is a message board open to the public. She breeds, raises and trains danes for people with mobility issues and for veterans with post traumatic stress syndrome and donates every dog...free. Sigh OFF. I don't know. I guess the reason I mentioned all of that is to remind myself about how soft and ignorant (mean) our society has become. Heaven help us if we have to depend on those 21st. century people to feed us...or themselves. Quote Link to comment
CrabGrassAcres Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I haven't had to pull too many, actually. I make sure the does have plenty of green feed for the potassium and that eliminates most dystocia problems. Should have goslings and ducklings in a few weeks. I have geese setting all over the place and at least 2 clucky ducks plus I just put duck and goose eggs in the incubator. Quote Link to comment
Jeepers Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Noel had to have a C-Section. They gave her 3-4 shots of Pitocin and nothing happened. She was also not drinking or urinating. So off to the hospital she went. She had 4 healthy BIG baby boys. But wait there's more....after about 10 hours they found out Gus turned out to be Gussie! Darn umbilical cord. They filmed the C-Section but it isn't really that graphic. It mostly focused on the puppies first minutes of life. Even though I get aggravated with all of the garbage out there, there is still some pretty awesome stuff on the internet. Quote Link to comment
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