He's standing and walking!!!

 

He's so wobbly, but he's up.  I lifted him up (he's about 50 pounds) and held him on his feet for about 5 minutes, then he started walking!  He is still having a bit of problems getting up, but getting stronger by the hour!  YAY!!!  Of course, his first steps were right out of the barn into the field (with Mama close behind).

Here's a YouTube from his first steps and exploration! (It only took 3 hours to upload the 2:30 video....REALLY??)

Weldon updates!

Weldon is very weak and unable to stand.  He is not nursing nor is he able to suck on the bottle we have for him. 

 

Here I am on my faithful Little Tykes chair trying to milk out some colostrum from a cow that is laying on her udder.  Nothing like doing things the easy way, eh?

But Weldon is all cleaned up and BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

Finally, late this afternoon...I started feeding him with a turkey baster...(and got myself a new turkey baster!)

 

So we have something in him.  I spoke with the vet to let her know that we got our 10% calf!  She was so excited to be wrong.

 

Hopefully soon he will be strong enough to stand and start eating on his own. (We're pretty sure it's a boy, but since he's not standing, it's hard to tell for sure.)

Excitement on the Homestead!

It has been a long, exciting, tiring week so far.  In a nutshell....

Last Friday 4/5  We had the fields bush-hogged.  Now they are all mowed down and ready for spring!

 

 

Behind the fence here at the back of the property is where we would like to have the pond dug (on the 101 list!)

 

We also had fun with our dog, Danny.  I had an eyeliner pencil ready to go into the trash and he needed a bath anyway....

 

How you doing?

 

 

 

Then on Saturday the 6th we had a bit of tragedy and lost all 21 of our chicks in the brooder.  We praise God for His glory and mercy though.

 

We reinstalled the well pump so there is water to the chicken coop and the barn on Saturday.

 

Sunday morning, Bessie seemed to be in labor.  She was laying down, obviously miserable.  And most telling, her sweet feed (aka cow crack) from Saturday night feeding.

 

 

By Monday morning, she had given up on labor, but was dehydrated and still not eating.  After calling a few vets, a few "cow" friends, and chatting with my online "imaginary" friend, it was decided to have the large animal vet come out and check Bess.

 

She had a case of dehydration and bloat from laying on her side too much.  The rumanent  gas couldn't get out.  The vet intubated her and gave her a mixture of dishsoap and baking soda to break up the bubbles.  Then she got down to checking the calf.  Bess was not dialated AT ALL.  But when the vet was able to get to the calf, she squeezed his nose and eyes and he didn't respond.  She gave me the sad news that she was pretty sure that he was going to be born stillborn (90% sure).  So the vet gave Bess two shots to induce her labor. 

 

And we waited...the rest of Monday...going out every hour...through Monday night....all day Tuesday....all night Tuesday.  Some time between my 6 am check and the 7 am check on Wednesday morning.....

 

Welcome, Weldon!