Calving is the highest-risk welfare event in a dairy cow's year. Dystocia (difficult birth) causes severe pain and can be fatal to both dam and calf without appropriate assistance.
Dystocia causes intense pain from prolonged uterine contractions, forced calf extraction and perineal trauma. Cows experiencing assisted calvings benefit substantially from NSAID administration — reducing pain, fever and inflammation while improving feed intake recovery. Monitoring for early signs of calving difficulty and intervening appropriately (neither too early nor too late) is the most critical stockmanship skill in the calving period.