They don't always need help, but sometimes the calf is too big, or not "presenting" correctly, so the rancher has to stick their arm in, straighten things out, and possibly help pull the calf. Some quick Googling tells me about 2% of births are malpresentations where the calf will need assistance to be born; big calves are a little more common than that. First calf heifers are more prone to issues than mature cows, and animals that consistently have difficult births are usually culled.
That_goat_is_evil11 karma
They don't always need help, but sometimes the calf is too big, or not "presenting" correctly, so the rancher has to stick their arm in, straighten things out, and possibly help pull the calf. Some quick Googling tells me about 2% of births are malpresentations where the calf will need assistance to be born; big calves are a little more common than that. First calf heifers are more prone to issues than mature cows, and animals that consistently have difficult births are usually culled.
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