First the good news. The first problem calf straightened up and has been doing fine.
But today, 58 calves born, came problem #2. The weather has been about as bad as it has all winter. Blowing snow, wind and cold. The problem calf was born yesterday but this morning he was on the wrong side of the fence. He was a little weak but otherwise seemed ok. Then this evening he was very weak and breathing hard. Joe carried him to the top of that hill in the background but when he went back to check, the calf was halfway back down. We tube fed him with some milk replacer and stood him back up. Then we watched him wander further down the hill. We made the decision to bring him to the barn because we were sure he would just end up the the swamp.
So Joe hefted him up again and carried him up another hill.
It is pretty rough territory.
Good thing Joe is in great shape.
He got the calf into the 4-wheeler cart and we took him to the barn. We gave him an antibiotic injection and a steroid shot and propped him up where he could breath the easiest. When we checked on him a couple of hours later, he was dead. Farming is not always rainbows and unicorns. It is usually blood, sweat and tears.
2 comments:
Awww darn. At least you know you tried. I'm at that stage with one of my old mares. I tried everything I could think of to get her to walk without pain- she has bad arthritis in her left front and an old shoulder injury from when she was a weanling and hobbles around, and favours her left front when at rest. I did all I could, now it's time to make the call. I gave it 8 months of remedies; the arthritis set in about a year and a half ago and I kept hoping it would fuse like it did with my stallion.
Very sad. Heroic effort. Joe is amazing.
Post a Comment