Dave
Well-known member
The wife called me about 3:00 yesterday to come home and save a calf. She was out of breath so I could tell she had been working at it herself. I get home this cow calved in the biggest mud hole in a muddy field. The wife had drug the calf out of the mud hole but every time she did the cow would go to licking the calf and push it back into the mud. I managed to get the tractor down there and we loaded the calf into the bucket. At this point the calf is just a limp noodle. Up to the barn. Several towels and a blow dryer later we have most of the mud cleaned off and the calf dry. It did suck the most part of a bottle of colostrum but it did it laying down as it couldn't stand. About 10:00 we tried to get it to suck some more but it barely took any. It still couldn't stand. I figured dead calf by morning. But I was wrong. This morning it was laying in a corner of the shed with its head up. We got it on its feet and it stood while sucking another bottle. This one just might make it.
Edit: The wife just left me a message. This calf who was a wet noodle with a cold mouth a very near death at 4:00 yesterday afternoon, just managed to stand up with assistance at 5:00 this morning, somehow managed to escape the pen and was about 200 feet away at 9:00 this morning. Some of them look for an excuse to die and others will survive most anything.
Edit: The wife just left me a message. This calf who was a wet noodle with a cold mouth a very near death at 4:00 yesterday afternoon, just managed to stand up with assistance at 5:00 this morning, somehow managed to escape the pen and was about 200 feet away at 9:00 this morning. Some of them look for an excuse to die and others will survive most anything.
