As Fall approaches here on the farm, the to-do list seems to continue to grow. Harvest is in full swing. This is our first year running corn and soybeans, so it's been a bit of a learning curve with moisture testing, equipment maintenance...then repairing, and dealing with the mood swings of mother nature. It's been hectic...to say the least.
Friday, as I was pulling in the driveway from delivering a rooster (yes, it seems we're a jack of all critters at this point!) I noticed one of our momma cows bawling like she couldn't locate her calf. I didn't think too much of it at the time; we've got pasture that goes around our entire farm with many nooks and crannies to navigate...sometimes they have a hard time keeping up with the little fellers. I go about my business as usual. Being I'm a nurse by day, I worked the weekend, not giving much thought to the cow who had momentarily misplaced her calf. That was until Sunday came...
I thought to myself...you know, I haven't seen that calf, myself, since early Friday either. I asked my husband if he'd seen him. His answer was no, but he hardly had time to pay attention to the cattle attendance roster since being waste deep in harvest. We decided we better make a trip to the pasture for roll call....and, man, are we glad we did!
After much searching to no avail, we finally called to momma; she lead us right to a pile of large tree stumps and brush that had been left behind from loggers who cleared the pasture for us two years prior. I looked at Ryan as he was looking at me. We both knew where we needed to look. Sure enough, our 3 month old calf was at the bottom of that pile, wedged underneath logs, brush, and branches.
Mind you, we also have our 2 year old son in tow, who is way too excited to be out in the cow pasture past bedtime. All he can, repeatedly, say is "What you doing?!" and “Why, Mom?” as my husband and I frantically try to muster a plan together to somehow get this 250-300lb calf out of a hole...a hole that I'm not sure how he even fit in, let alone is going to come out of..it was a disaster, if you can imagine.
With a rope, three adults, and several times in and out of this cavernous, spider-filled hole...we were able to hoist him out. Unsure how long he'd been without nutrition or if he'd aspirated fluid into his lungs (it had rained all day the previous two days), the prognosis for this little guy was guarded, at best. He showed some fight and will to live, though. He was standing within 15 minutes of removal...we were SHOCKED. After a dose of antibiotics, a B12 injection, and electrolytes, we got momma up with him. He made quick of the hello's and went straight for the goods..aka momma's milk.
We were extremely lucky, and incredibly blessed, that this turned out as well as it did. After finishing supper, and the dishes, at 11:30 pm, we FINALLY got in bed. I whispered to my husband, "I'm not sure what we'd do with our time if we didn't have cattle." To which he did not respond, he was already sawing logs!
Comments