Yesterday morning the sick calf was still holding her own. She was conscious but unable to stand or drink so everything was delivered through a tube down her throat. By last night she was brighter but still weak. This morning she was brighter but too weak to stand. I fed her again through a stomach tube for my own comforts since it was raining outside and, although she was trying to drink, she was taking forever and my legs were cramping up trying to hunch in the hutch with her. She is attempting to stand up so I made sure the storm fence was tight and she would stay in her hutch. If Bruce was here he would have helped her by lifting her but I can't begin to do that, especially in a hutch.
We had a vet call this morning for one of the cows that recently freshened. She hasn't been eating and, as it turns out, has a uterine infection. We have gotten lucky so far that she doesn't have a DA but her stomach was totally empty so the vet drenched her. He does this by putting a stainless steel tube, about 18 inches long, in her mouth and past her teeth, hooking it into her nose so it won't come out. This tube lets him insert a rubber hose into her stomach. He can tell by the sounds and smell whether he has it in the correct place and if it's right, he then pumps in a mixture of alfalfa, salts, calcium and potassium in 5 gallons of water followed by another 5 gallons of water. Hopefully doing this will get her digestive system going. The vet was able to massage out much of what was in her uterus so hopefully these treatments will have her feeling better soon.
Bruce had another appointment in town and his last grazing class so he headed out as soon as he could and I continued finishing up the milkhouse things he normally does. It was odd being in the barn by myself finishing up. Normally when I am there he is feeding or the pump is running but this morning it was just me and one fan running. Strangely quiet, but enjoyable Feeding calves is rather crazy these days. I am only feeding 17 calves but between bottles vs pails, individuals vs groups, milk vs replacer, not to mention the addition of the sick one I am feeding 10 different combinations. This all works fine if I can work through in a routine but yesterday morning I had to wait for the bull calf milk which changed the whole process. Bruce laughed at me when he would come in the milkhouse and I would be standing there with a confused "where the heck was I" look on my face. At one point he mentioned he could hear the gears grinding, much like a clock who's batteries were low, and suggested that maybe that was my problem. Of course he offered to go get me some new ones if I thought it would help. Sometimes I just have to laugh, especially like that when that's exactly how I felt!
Bruce came home from class and then headed out to mix quite a few batches of feed tonight. He came home for supper and then we both went out, him to continue feeding and I was going to start to milk. When I got out into the barn a cow that we had just dried up over the weekend was straining and complaining, seemingly having a calf but what I saw wasn't normal. I double checked her due date in case I made a mistake and Bruce checked her. Something definitely wasn't right so he put on a shoulder length sleeve and checked her again. This time he found that she was trying to have a calf. The normal presentation for birth is both front legs in front followed by the head on top. With her he reached in and felt ribs and realized that both legs and head were turned back. In this case all you can do is push the calf back and reposition the legs and head. Once this was done the calf came out quickly. He checked her again as far as he could reach and couldn't find anything else so he assumed she had just aborted 2 months early. We continued milking another 1/3 of the cows and she was pushing out what we assumed would be placenta but once the water broke there was another small foot. Sure enough, that one too had a leg and head turned back and had to be repositioned. Our best guess is one of them had a cord that detached and they had died. So much for that "dry" rest period between calving's. It's funny how quickly things change. Bruce treated the cow with the big udder for mastitis since she was just fresh and she had injured a teat. By tonight Bruce is milking 3 special needs cows with the addition of the one the vet treated and now this new delivery. Tonight our sick calf is still on the edge. We have done what we can. She is warm and dry in her hutch with her coat but it's still cool and damp. We will again see what tomorrow brings.
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