And just when I thought I was getting a handle on things....
Yes, dammit, that IS a calf. And a three-weeks early calf. And very nearly a dead calf; lively enough, but one of the older cows "claimed" him and chased his actual mother off. By the time my parents had beaten the old cow off, fetched him back to the barn, tried to fetch his mother (Justice), realized that Justice was completely crackercow and fetched me in from town and the bro from his comfy bed, gotten back to the field, beaten the old cow off *again*, fetched Justice, milked Justice, and found the calf bottle hiding where we'd put it last year, he was nearly dead from lack of food. We had to tube-feed him in the end, but it was worth it; within minutes he was up and running. Running away from us tube-torturing maniacs, of course, but we were happy anyway.
Today he seems completely recovered, and Justice is being either a good cow or a crackercow based on what the nice hormones tell her but we have fixed the gate and put the boards back on the fence and have hopes that good cow will win out. She's not too bad to milk, anyway.
Did I say my life was under control? *checks*
Nope, I didn't. How wise of me.
Yes, dammit, that IS a calf. And a three-weeks early calf. And very nearly a dead calf; lively enough, but one of the older cows "claimed" him and chased his actual mother off. By the time my parents had beaten the old cow off, fetched him back to the barn, tried to fetch his mother (Justice), realized that Justice was completely crackercow and fetched me in from town and the bro from his comfy bed, gotten back to the field, beaten the old cow off *again*, fetched Justice, milked Justice, and found the calf bottle hiding where we'd put it last year, he was nearly dead from lack of food. We had to tube-feed him in the end, but it was worth it; within minutes he was up and running. Running away from us tube-torturing maniacs, of course, but we were happy anyway.
Today he seems completely recovered, and Justice is being either a good cow or a crackercow based on what the nice hormones tell her but we have fixed the gate and put the boards back on the fence and have hopes that good cow will win out. She's not too bad to milk, anyway.
Did I say my life was under control? *checks*
Nope, I didn't. How wise of me.
posted at 06:47 PM on 02/27/06
by kat -
Category: Events
Stumble It!
Comments
Julia wrote:
Dang. Not good to have anything born too early. (Not that I would have personal experience with that, thank God....)
02/27/06 11:37 PM
Tim wrote:
eeep! *hugs*
It's almost cute, from the safety of the Internet.
It's almost cute, from the safety of the Internet.
02/28/06 11:11 AM
regolith wrote:
oh wow!
*looks forward to July*
found you through FMwriters - 'nother farmer, we'll be starting calving late July.
Crossbreds (HFxJe), then next year a big bunch of Jersey heifers coming into the herd. Going to be fun.
Hope the little fella's thriving - first ones usually do, even though they're so often prem.
*looks forward to July*
found you through FMwriters - 'nother farmer, we'll be starting calving late July.
Crossbreds (HFxJe), then next year a big bunch of Jersey heifers coming into the herd. Going to be fun.
Hope the little fella's thriving - first ones usually do, even though they're so often prem.
03/18/06 09:30 PM