It’s very interesting seeing these experiences from our own eyes, but we also get to see it from these young University of Idaho Students’ eyes. These are young vet students who are here learning first hand how to birth and hopefully save at risk young calves. A lot of these kids had never seen – let alone touched – a large animal, such as a cow or horse. They weren’t timid though, and this young girl (in particular) was as dedicated as I’ve seen. She stayed up all night and walked some of the fields and kept a vigilant eye on her little charges. This is the type of vet I would have faith in taking my animals to. She didn’t just do what “had to be done” but wanted and did go “beyond what was necessary” There is a lot of science in what we do…believe it or not. On top of that, sometimes it’s not all “Rocket Science” and you have to use your gut instincts and a bit of a “mothering hand”. Some things just call for care. She has both. When ever we had something that had to be taken care of, we took it to the students/vets in the barn.
This is the little kitchen where we get our supplies.
Young student helping Wayne give colostrum.
Another calf needing sustenance.
This calf was 3 weeks premature. I put my hand on him so that you could see how tiny he is. He did not live.
This little calf is on his way out to meet a Mommy! When they are handled by humans like this, they are not afraid.
We keep a chart on what tag #, what pen they go in, what date they are born, grafted, etc…
This is Norman. He hangs out with us in the barn. He has not yet been accepted by a cow.
This calf is a twin. They don’t happen very often or have as much chance of survival, so we leave the ‘healthiest one’ with Mom, and bring in the weaker twin to graft onto a cow.
He gets a ride in the pick up!
This is the calf I mentioned before that we saw seconds after he was born. Then we saw (from a distance) his legs thrashing wildly (not really normal) and raced across the distance to see what was wrong. The sac had been covering his face/nose/mouth and he was suffocating. Actually I thought we’d been too late. Wayne pulled off the sack quickly and held him upside down (picture a Doc doing this to a newborn baby and spanking his bottom) we tickled his nostrils with weeds, and he began to sputter a bit. With a moment or two of this type of work, he began to breath on his own. We left him with his Mom. He did live.
If we had not been there, this is what we would have seen later. This calf had the same issues, but was born in the night/dark. It happens.
I just thought I’d share a couple pics of Sam lovin’ life.
This cow found the perfect spot to NOT have a calf. She is in a dip, and stuck. We rolled her over. What I couldn’t get pictures of is when Wayne handed me a rope from her hind feet and had me use my horse to pull her over. I’m just not able to be that multi tasking.
This is a confused cow. Why doesn’t my baby get up?
This is the same cow that had been stuck in a hole. But we’ve given her time to have the baby, and it’s just not working. Now we intervene.
Now is the time to hit “Back” if you don’t want to see graphic images!
This calf is not alive, so don’t worry about him being hurt.
Wayne tried pulling, and I tried with my horse, but this calf was stuck, so we had to get ‘pullers’
These are the images I hesitated to show. It seems a bit much like the ‘hard cold world’ but it’s a fact of life. Without our intervention, this cow would also have died.
Wayne and Rolly setting up the puller.
The Calf is taken back to the barn to be examined. Blood tests and other tests will be run. And ya know, it’s possible that the tests run on him, (and others) might save a human life sometime.
Mom is exhausted but we make sure she is going to get up, or we would have taken her in too. Right now, she just needs to recover.
Sometimes we change boots and jobs many times during the day.
And sometimes I can’t tell you how happy I am at the end of the day. It’s good that God always provides a beautiful landscape for the last thing to view.
I am grateful for my family and the life I have.
Please let me know what you think!
Jessie
