Good and Bad

We had a calf that had not been doing well for a couple of days.  This morning, we spent over and hour in the rain looking for it, then another hour trying to get it to the barn.  We ended up having to haul it in the tractor loader.

I thought we were just going to run down and give it an antibiotic shot so I didn't even wear a raincoat.  Once Joe roped it and we examined him, we saw that it was theileria from the ticks.  So the plan changed to get him to the barn with the cow and do a blood transfusion.  

But it was also Camp Mimi day with Sadie and Allie.  I finally got the transfusion done but it was very complicated.   Back at the house, Allie had to have a change of clothes and I had to have my third change.  Sadie just took her clothes off and didn't want to put anything back on.  I was at least able to convince her to put on a tee shirt.  

After a late lunch, I pulled out a game from my youth,  Hands Down.  The "slam-o-matic" was a big hit.  

Then we played a game of Lego, Race to Build It.  Sadie wanted to play a second time but Allie just wanted to play with the blocks.  I ended up taking Sadie to the TV room for another surprise game.  Allie didn't last long by herself with the Legos, and she joined us.  

We spent the rest of a rainy day (almost 2 inches) playing Wii Fit.  

They had a ball.  But there was lots of reminders about how to take turns.  We sent them home after supper and probably ready for bed.

Joe and I then went back to the barn to check the calf.  It died while I was giving it more IV fluids. It was a rough day. 

 

Transfusion Update

The video speaks for itself. 

 I guess the transfusion bought enough time for the calf’s bone marrow to catch up on making red blood cells and maybe for his immune system to help fight off the theileria. 

Transfusion

We had a 10 day old calf that had gotten off to a great start. Then he suddenly started staggering, falling and laying around. I decided he probably had theileria.  There is still no approved treatment in the US. But some people have had success giving blood transfusions. 

Might as well give it a try.  I didn’t have a large enough collection bag so I used an iv fluid bag and added some heparin as an anticoagulant. 

Another jugular catheter, and the calf got a little over a liter of blood. 

 He was stronger when we let him back out. But only time will tell. I am sure he would have died had we done nothing. 

Round Two

The calf that was on IV's then turned back out with her mother Tuesday, took a turn for the worse Thursday.   We ended up tube feeding her that night. 

She was too weak to stand Friday morning.  So she made another trip to the barn for 3 liters of IV fluids.  She also got an antibiotic injection and some steroids. 

The next morning she was much better.  

We turned her loose but there some confusion about the truck being her mother.

She eventually figured it out.  I hope this straightens her out and there isn't a round 3.  
 

Sometimes It Just Doesn't Pay To Put On Clean Clothes.

Since we had pulled a calf Sunday, I had done the barn laundry and put on clean clothes. Then yesterday I was cleaning the poop that Draper keeps generating, out of the barn when Joe came up and said we needed to get a calf with scours to the barn and a heifer that was having trouble calving to the barn.  We picked up the calf first and tubed it with some electrolytes then went get the heifer up.  

It was a little bit of a hike but she came on with no trouble.  The problem came with pulling the calf.  It was coming with just the head and the front legs folded under.  I got the legs up and out with the chains on and everything was lined up to come out, but things were tight.  Joe worked the jack and we almost didn't get it out.  But leverage prevailed.  Unfortunately, it was dead.  It was dead before we started working on her.  

It was also big, maybe close to 100 pounds.  We had a month old calf on a cow Joe is going to sell.  So he skinned the dead calf and put the hide on the month old calf.  

One trip to the chute to get the calf to nurse and by morning she was taking the calf.  

Meanwhile, the scouring calf wasn't getting any better.  I started an IV and gave her two liters of fluids before she got up and pulled out the catheter.     

We tubed her with some milk last night and this morning Joe carried her out to take her back to the cow.  

She was bawling for her. 

She is not out of the woods yet, but she was back to nursing anyway.  Now I have more laundry to do. 

 

Second Jacking

Joe already had this heifer in the lot because she had been trying to steal another calf.  When Joe checked her Sunday morning the water bag was out. A couple of hours later the feet were out but she wasn’t trying to do anything.  It was time to get her up and check things out. 

Everything was there where it was supposed to be but bigger than the other calves we had been having.   I got the chains on and Joe worked the jack. 

It was pretty quick but I don’t think we could have pulled it by hand. 

And it was alive. 

I am not liking this bigger size. 

Jacked

Not jacked up, jacked out. 

It is usually not a good sign when this comes out.  

When Joe was checking the cows yesterday evening, a second calf heifer didn't look right to him.  He got her up to the barn lot and she started eating, yet she had some discharge.  She didn't act like she was in labor.  He waited an hour and checked again, nothing.  So it was my turn.  We got her in the chute and I said that looked like trouble.   It ended up being a backwards calf with only the butt coming.  

Thankfully, my epidural worked and I was able to get the chains on and the feet pulled out.   This is where the jack came in handy.  Joe and I can't pull as hard as we use to.  And amazingly,  

The calf was alive. It was less than 30 minutes from the time we got her in the chute until we got the calf out.  And she was standing in another 30 minutes.  The cow took a little longer.  She went down in the chute.  We had to open the side and she rolled out and got stuck.  We had to put a halter on and ropes on her rear legs to drag her around until she could get in a position to stand.  She just didn't try.  Joe said it was one of the problems of having cows that were too tame.  When we turned her out this morning she went right to eating again.  

 

25 Days Of Christmas, Day 16

I was doing a little Christmas shopping for Sadie and Allie when I ran across some Barbies at Rural King.  Sadie and Allie love playing with Barbies at my  house. 

This is the new vet Barbie.  My question is, why are her hips so big?  

The next Barbie over didn’t have big hips. She was a dog washer Barbie. I am not sure why she had a bandage in her left arm. Not a good sign for a dog washer. 

It looks like Barbie became a vet around 1985.   Here she had Barbie proportions. 

Pet doctor Barbie came out in the 1990’s. I have this one.  She is very Barbie like. 

The 2000’s version is looking a little frumpy. 

But nothing like the frumpiness of this one. I I’m not sure this would encourage any young girl to be a vet.  Maybe to get to wear pink boots but that is about it. Spoiler alert, I did not buy the 2025 vet Barbie. 

 

CE

I went to a continuing education meeting in Asheville this weekend.  The first night I stayed a the hotel.  Then the next 2 I spent with Emily and Keiran. 

I listened to lectures on skin, 

ears, and kidneys.  The lectures were ok, nothing all that helpful.  Virginia requires 15 hours a years, so I am now done.  The conference had a sponsor for the lunch on Friday but we were on our own for lunch Saturday. 

Where I had stayed at the hotel and signed up for their free rewards program to get a lower rate, I had a coupon for free wings from the bar.  It was better than the meal on Friday.  

I stayed with Emily and Keiran in Brevard.  The town is known for its population of white squirrels.  They are everywhere.     According to the City of Brevard,

"The white squirrels in Brevard originated from a pair of white squirrels that escaped from a carnival truck in Florida around 1949. They were given to a local resident, who later gifted them to his niece. After one escaped and the other was released, they began breeding in the wild and established the local white squirrel population." 

Emily and I walked around her neighborhood this morning and I also spotted a few goats. 

I thought these were exceptionally lifelike renditions.  

 

Problems Resolved

Things don't always work out like you want so you adapt.  

We had a first calf heifer Joe thought was thinking about calving Thursday morning.  He went back later and she she had not done anything so he got her up and called me.  I left work early and we headed out to the farm to check.  (the fall calving cows are at a farm about 15 minutes from the house) She still had not done anything, just walking around.  We were worried about the possibility of a backwards calf.  We got her in the chute and I checked, fully dilated, no calf in birth canal and the placenta had not ruptured.  I found two feet, soles pointing upward and thought it was going to be backwards.  I got the chains on and pulled a little and checked again, I found the head, down and to the left.  It was an upside down calf, not backwards.  So I crossed the chains, pulled some more and got it lined up to come out.  Since Joe and I can't pull as much as we use to we were going to use the calf jack.  

And since we have had some wrecks in the chute with cows going down when you start to pull, Joe wanted to let her out and tie her to the fence.  The only problem was she wouldn't stop fighting the rope and we couldn't get her snugged up tight.  

When we went to put the calf jack on, the 50+ year old rope that was tied to the halter broke.  Now we had a loose, mad cow.  

Joe was able to get her back in the chute and we were able to jack the calf out and the cow didn't go down.  Unfortunate, the calf was now dead. 

We left her and the calf in the lot overnight.  The next morning we brought another twin we had been feeding.  

Joe skinned the dead one and used it to disguise the new one.  

The heifer wasn't too sure about this.  

And the calf didn't really like the hide but was enjoying his freedom from the dog pen in the barn where he had been staying.  

So, back into the chute and the calf went to town nursing.  Joe said the heifer liked him by that evening.  

And then checking on the other cows, there was one on the wrong side of the fence.  On closer inspection, she had calved in the field she should have been in and then got through the fence but the calf didn't.  Since it was easier to deal with the calf than the cow, Joe just put it through the fence to be with mom.  So at least that possible disaster was averted.  
 

Trying Again

My horse vet had eye surgery and hasn’t been able to come out and check Draper until yesterday.  I wasn’t in a hurry because if she didn’t take, I wasn’t going to try again this year. 

Are you holding your breath? 

There it is, two months along.  She will have to be in a dry lot with fescue free hay starting in March.  Once again, I am not getting my hopes up, a lot can go wrong.   

And on that happy note, I will leave you with some more beautiful clouds 

and the view down the driveway.