SSDreamin Blessings and curses

frustratedearthmother

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Hopefully that 'stuff' coming out of her will turn into a calf ASAP! You just wait - she'll keep you up all night again and then pop it out when the sun comes up - that's what my goats do anyway.... Stoopid critters, lol!
 

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Ice Cream had her calf. VERY difficult/long birth - she prolapsed and we had to call the vet out for an emergency visit. My poor girl had to have stitches, is now drugged up and in shock, and wants nothing to do with the calf. It was a bull calf. He is a beautiful brindle color. HUGE! 24" tall!! Not what we were expecting at all! He has been refusing to eat - won't nurse, although Ice Cream isn't cooperating anyway. Ever been in a sheer panic, and NOBODY will answer their phone because it's the middle of the night?! I am SO tired! Can't sleep yet, as I have to keep trying to feed the calf.
 

frustratedearthmother

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Oh man, that's not what the outcome I know you had hoped for! Have you been able to get any colostrum out of her? Just when you're thinking things will get easier when she calves you end up working harder to keep her alive and get the calf going. I really, really hope it all turns out well, but I know you'll be having some more sleepless nights until it all resolves itself. (HUGS!)
 

Denim Deb

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Glad she's had him, and I hope she feels better soon. Is it still bitterly cold there?
 

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Whew! Feels like it's been a week since I found Ice Cream in the barn in labor, or since I've slept :p I actually passed out from exhaustion earlier, but the vet called, so I only got a 45 minute 'power nap'. I put a call into him this morning because Ice Cream was down and quivering at one of my barn checks. He gave me a few ideas to try, then told me to call him with any results. So, as my girl laid on the ground, DS & I cleaned as much of her bag as possible and milked the only teat I could reach. Got a whopping pint of colostrum, but hey, I was proud of our efforts! Brought it in, put it in a bottle and served it up to Flank. WOW! I am amazed at what a little Momma's first milk can do for a calf! He was hopping around in his little pen, bucking and raring to go! :D We went back out a couple hours later and got 3/4 pint from another teat. We were using the Dansa hand milking system I got this past Spring. It has a bit of a learning curve, but it was WAY faster/easier than doing it by hand! Ice Cream didn't mind at all, and DS worked the pump, so it was gravy for me! Forgot to mention: We had trouble trying to tube feed Flank, so we gave up. I got him to suck my fingers, to 'activate' his sucking reflex, then hubs sat with him for an hour getting him to drink a bottle of milk replacer (It's all we had - yup, not really prepared for the 'what-if's' cuz my husband said I was just getting freaked out by reading all the negative scenarios online and we 'aren't going to need any of that stuff'. hmmm...) After that, I sat on the bale of straw we used as a barrier for him, with the bottle beside my leg. He came up and 'bumped' my leg, looking for milk, found the bottle, and drank. I thought it may help for when he got back out with Ice Cream. When hubs got home, he took a true measurement of Flank - he's 27" tall!! For a miniature, that's HUGE! Don't know his exact weight, but he;s either about 40# or 1 ton, based on when I carried him into the house :gig Tonight Hubs also carried him out to the barn and we put him in with Ice Cream. At first, she ignored him, and I was worried. An hour later when we checked, she was licking him. At the 3 hour mark she was encouraging him to nurse. She is a fantastic Momma - I am so proud of her! We are leaving him in with her, in spite of the temps tonight ( Deb: supposed to be -20's and bitter again. Ugh). He really is doing great, and at my last check (it was -10 then)they were snuggled up together on a pile of straw :love One more check and I can go collapse into bed!:weee
Here is a photo of Flank I took with my phone. Hubby was disappointed that I didn't 'stage' it to better show his size (put something in with him, I think is what he meant :rolleyes: ) Tough to see the brindle in his coat here:
Flank1.jpg
 
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Denim Deb

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He looks to be a cutie. I don't recall, how big is Ice Cream? She's a mini Jersey, right? And, what do you plan on doing w/him?
 

frustratedearthmother

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OMG - he's a doll! but, dang - he's B.I.G for a mini! Sounds like it's all gonna turn out okay.... but the things we go through for these critters. I know you're exhausted. Consider it a job well done now and go to bed, lol!
 

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He looks to be a cutie. I don't recall, how big is Ice Cream? She's a mini Jersey, right? And, what do you plan on doing w/him?
Ice Cream is only 36" tall, and she's 3/4 mini Jersey, 1/4 lowline. She looks a bit strange right now too (I mean, besides being caked with mud and...dried 'other' stuff). The vet said the calf rearranged her internal organs to fit and right now - she's skinny for the back 1/3 of her body, and really fat for the front 2/3! His name is Flank because I love fajitas and he will be going to freezer camp (this will be the true test for all of us! I quit eating beef for 20+ years after the last steer I raised. Michael is already attached. Mike is trying to treat the whole thing like the pigs, but we only had them for 6 months. We'll have Flank for 2 years :\ )

FEM: OMG - he's a doll! but, dang - he's B.I.G for a mini! Sounds like it's all gonna turn out okay.... but the things we go through for these critters. I know you're exhausted. Consider it a job well done now and go to bed, lol!
Right?! Everybody that's seen him says "That's a tiny calf!" Ah, no. His Mom was about that height when we got her, at 5 months old! I feel much better this AM too - brain fog is lifted, muscles don't ache as much, and it's 25 degrees and SUNNY here today :celebrate

Wanted to mention too that this has been a very educational experience for my DS as well. He *thought* he was getting a day off school, but he got quite the education! Funny thing too, he was fascinated by colostrum. We discussed why it is so important, the fact that even human Mom's produce colostrum, how it benefits the newborn and why. Then, he got to see it in action, supercharging a calf! After witnessing its effects, he brought up the intriguing question of why aren't scientists studying it to understand it better, and we discussed the benefits/difficulties tied to that. My public school educated niece called last night to congratulate us on our new addition and commented that "I would hope (DS) helped out, after all he doesn't go to school or anything." I just chuckled to myself. My brother and SIL or both strongly anti-HS. I have never ridiculed their choices. I get very tired of the way they feel it's OK to make fun of our choice, and tired of the way they encourage their oldest daughter to do the same. I am a strong believer in 'Live and Let Live'. Wish the rest of my family was too :rolleyes: After I hung up the phone with her, I thought about the fact that I couldn't have paid for the education DS got through this 'ordeal', and I suppose we could've kept him home from school to experience it, but would he have 'studied' and absorbed everything so intently? Would he have showed the interest that he did? Who knows. I like to think not, but that's probably just MY bias showing ;)
 

Denim Deb

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When my son was little, I took him outside well past his bed time so he could see a lunar eclipse. He remembers that to this day. And, I'm thinking it was B4 my DD was born, so he had to have been under 6 yo.
 

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