CATTLE. 



moment after it is ascertained that the foetus is dead. Even now, 

 however, the cow should not be disturbed more than is absolutely 

 necessary ; and it cannot be too deeply impressed on the mind of 

 the farmer, that the frequent habit of rousing the poor animal, and 

 dri\ing her about, while she is in the act of calving, or even before 

 the labor begins, is an unnatural, brutal, and dangerous one. 



Mr. Skellett, in his work on " the Parturition of the Cow," (a truly 

 valuable one as it regards the point now under consideration, the 

 mechanical assistance that can be rendered in difficult and protracted 

 labor,) observes, "As the business proceeds, and the pains increase 

 in strength and rapidity, she confines herself to a lying posture, and 

 in this posture she is delivered of the calf. When we reflect on this 

 conduct of the animal, left to herself, we cannot too much reprobate 

 the advice of those who recommend the driving her in the act of 

 calving, or immediately before it takes place. The author has known 

 a great many instances where it has proved the death of the cow, by 

 producing inflammation and all its bad consequences. Every ra- 

 tional man will agree that the above practice is both cruel and in- 

 consistent ; for the animal herself, as soon as the hours of calving 

 come on, immediately leaves the rest of the flock, and retires to some 

 corner of the field, or under a hedge, in order to prevent the other 

 cows or anything else coming near, that ma\^ disturb her in bringing 

 forward her young." 



If the head be sufficiently advanced to be grasped by the hands, 

 or for a hand to be introduced by the side of it so as to urge it 

 forward, an assistant at the same laying hold of the fore-legs, and 

 pulling with moderate force at each of the throes of the mother, the 

 little animal may often be brought forward without endangering its 

 life. If, however, it be firmly impacted in the passage, a cord with 

 a slip knot should be fastened round each leg, immediately above the 

 fetlock, and a third cord around the lower jaw. Greater power may 

 then be applied, the persons holding the cords pulling in concert, 

 accommodating themselves to the natural pains of the mother, and 

 exerting their strength, although somewhat forcibly, yet quietly and 

 gradually. Here again the brutal violence resorted to by some per- 

 sons is much to be reprobated ; it inevitably destroys the calf, and 

 endangers the life of the mother. If the foetus cannot be extracted 

 by moderate force, one of the shoulders should be slipped (taken off,) 

 which may easily be effected by means of a small knife curved like 

 those used for pruning, so as to be easily introduced into the pass- 

 age in the hollow of the hand, and there used without danger of 

 wounding the cow. An incision should be made in the fore-arm of 

 the foetus, and the skin elevated and turned back by means either of 

 the knife or the fingers. The shoulder may then be easily detached 

 from the body and drawn out ; and the bulk of the calf being thus 

 materially lessened, the remainder of it will be readily extracted. 



