This morning, I got a call from my dad asking for sure how many calves we should have on the property because he was sure he was missing one. The calf born last Friday was unaccounted for. Dad had searched the property with no signs of him. Once I got there, we looked again...still no luck. We gave up for the time being. I hoped Bree, his momma, had hidden him, but was worried that something else had happened to him. When mom got to work, she went out to look again. Within a few minutes she texted to say that Bree's baby was with her and that Deer was in labor. Dad and I noticed Deer staying off to herself, but she didn't show any signs of calving and honestly hadn't even looked close. It wasn't very long and we had a bull calf on the ground.
Unfortunately, after she cleaned for a very short time, she walked away from the baby. Once he got on his feet, he tried to nurse on nearly every cow on the property...except his momma...she wanted nothing to do with him. Mom and I spent the afternoon getting him up and going, separating momma from the rest of the cows and hoping she would decide that he belonged to her. By the end of the afternoon, temperatures were in the low 90's. After carrying a slippery, wet, muddy baby and wrestling an unhappy momma to try to get her to nurse, I was a mess!
After cleaning up, Troy, Kyle and I went for dinner at Del Rio. We made another trip back to the farm to feed the calf colostrum since momma still hadn't let him nurse. Mean while...in the office...our first midnight peachick hatched. Never a dull moment! In the morning, dad and I will get momma in the stanchion and force her to let the baby nurse...hopefully it will cause her milk to come down and she will continue to let the calf nurse on his own.
I'm way too tired tonight...my whole body aches and my head is pounding. It's been a long day, but I wouldn't want it any other way!
