228 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



following carving as long as they have uterine discharges. 

 The infected cow which produces a seemingly normal calf 

 may be as great a source of danger to healthy stock at time 

 of calving as though she had aborted. 



Experimental studies have indicated that animals ac- 

 quire the disease mainly through the mouth by consuming 

 feed or water that has been contaminated with material 

 from the generative organs of infected animals either at or 

 near times of calving or aborting. It is at these times, there- 

 fore, that extreme precautions should be taken in so hand- 

 ling the animals that their discharges may be confined to 

 as small an area as possible, where they may be gathered 

 up and proper disposition made of them. 



Difficult Calving 



Usually a cow will calve without assistance if kept 

 quiet and not excited. Strangers, children, and particularly 

 dogs, should be kept away from the cow. The stall or other 

 place where the calf is to be born should be clean. Before 

 labor has progressed to any great extent it is well to see that 

 the presentation is normal ; that is, that the front feet and 

 nose are first to appear. Sometimes one or both feet or the 

 head is doubled back. When this occurs, calving without 

 assistance is difficult or impossible. The calf should be 

 placed in proper position for it to be born, and this usually 

 means pushing the calf back into the uterus, which is some- 

 times rather difficult to do. Unless a person is skilled in such 

 work it is better to call a veterinarian. A bungled job may 

 mean serious laceration of the uterus, a loss of the cow, or 

 the death of the calf. Calves can also be born hind feet 

 first. When this occurs, some one should be on hand to 

 see that delivery is hastened at the critical moment; that is, 

 when it has so progressed that the blood supply to the calf 

 through the naval cord is shut off. The calf must then be 

 able to start breathing or it will smother. 



Sometimes assistance is needed, especially with the 

 young cows, even when the presentation is normal. Hence 

 the cow should be watched rather closely, but no help 

 should be given unless it is necessary. Time must be al- 



