ABNORMAL W
hen a cow has trouble calving, she needs help to bring a live calf into the world. Someone needs to provide that help, especially in abnormal deliveries, but often the expertise is unavailable, said Dr. Barry Whitworth, DVM and Oklahoma State University Extension area food and animal quality health specialist for eastern Oklahoma. Whitworth now offers a program to prepare producers, future veterinarians and youth to be the experts before labor begins. “I’ve taught the calving time management chapter for the Master Cattleman Program,” Whitworth said. “I would tell people how to properly put on obstetric chains and how to use a calf puller, but then there was no hands-on practice, which got me to build the calving simulator because I wanted people to be able to have hands-on experience.” After 25 years as a practicing veterinarian, Whitworth said he decided to design his own simulator from 55-gallon plastic barrels. “I took the pelvis of a cow and put it in the barrel, and I used rubber tubing to make the simulator as realistic as possible,” Whitworth said. Whitworth traveled around Oklahoma with his homemade simulator, presenting his heifer calving 74 SUMMER/FALL 2022
EDUCATION
OSU EXTENSION SPECIALIST EDUCATES WITH CALVING SIMULATOR management program to teach producers the basics of calving and to give participants the opportunity to practice pulling calves. However, this homemade simulator required him to obtain a calf cadaver for the hands-on activity, which had several limitations, Whitworth said. This led him to search for an alternative, he added. “I got online and started researching calving simulators,” Whitworth said. “I found the Hereford Dystocia Simulator made by Veterinary Simulator Industries, but we didn’t have the money to buy it because it’s $30,000-plus.” Instead of letting the daunting price tag hinder the development of his program, Whitworth began searching for grants, he said. The simulator was purchased with supplemental funds for OSU Agriculture appropriated through the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, said Randy Taylor, OSU Extension assistant director. “These funds are to allow OSU Extension and OSU Ag Research to work in new and innovative ways,” Taylor said. “The calving simulator fits that definition by allowing Dr. Whitworth to demonstrate real-life situations in an educational setting.” The Oklahoma Master Cattleman
program and the annual OSU Extension Cow/Calf Boot Camp both offer places to showcase the simulator, Whitworth said. He also uses it for 4-H programs and at the birthing centers during the two Oklahoma state fairs. In addition, the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine uses the simulator for two weeks to let students practice pulling calves. Fall 2021 was the first time the veterinary students had the opportunity to use the calving simulator. “I offered this elective for about 26 third-year veterinary students who were interested in cattle reproduction to get hands-on experience,” said Lionel Dawson, OSU-CVM professor. “A calf coming forward and upright with two feet and a head between them is considered normal,” he added. “Since a full-size calf fits inside the simulator, we showed the students a normal presentation.” The student can put a hand in the simulator to feel if the calf is coming normally, and if not, they can develop a plan to safely deliver the calf, Dawson said. He uses the simulator to teach his students how to best deliver the calf to protect it and the cow, he added. “During the calving season, producers need to recognize calving difficulties or dystocia in cattle,” Dawson said. “Early recognition of
