Scooter eating bits of bread
The big steer having a whole piece.Regular readers may remember how poor Bailey had a six weeks premature calf not long ago. Alan named him Scooter and we have been raising him as best we could. We suspect that rather than being caused by some pathology, the early birth was caused by big, nasty heifers beating on the more timid animals. Bailey is a real wuss like all daughters of the bull Ricky that we had born here. Poor Scooter didn't even have teeth when he was born, but as you can see in the picture he does now.
Being born so early left him a bit compromised, but Becky has been faithful in his care and he has thrived, all things considered. Then yesterday he didn't want his milk very much. He seemed to be chewing his cud so we weren't too worried until the end of milking.
I had taken the camera and some bread to the barn to take some photos of the steers, heifers and calves eating it out of our hands. They love bread and go about half nuts if someone walks in with some. It is like dropping big pennies in a huge piggy bank...slices of bread are tiny compared to the mouths of cattle. Alan even offered Scooter a couple of tiny pieces and he ate them eagerly.
A few minutes later though Al ran out in the milk house, "I've got to give Scooter some water...he can't swallow his bread."
I explained to him how to put his fingers in a calf's mouth, on the corner where there are no teeth and to press a little on his palate so he would spit out the bread. However, he couldn't seem to do it, so I took over. To my surprise the poor little guy had a huge mass, not of bread, but of hay, plugging up his whole throat. It took some fiddling around to get it out without getting bitten by his tiny, razor sharp teeth, but I was able to. His relief was marked and he drank a bottle of water like it was going out of style. Apparently, although he has teeth, they are not quite up to the job of chewing up a lot of hay yet and it all got wadded up in his tiny throat.
I was so glad that Alan gave him the bread so that we realized what was troubling him. I hadn't been to worried about him not wanting his milk as he had just figured out how to work the big cow water bowl and we figured he was full of water. He seemed to be fine last night and polished off his evening bottle like a champ. BTW, that bottle is a two-liter Mountain Dew bottle with a lamb nipple rather than a big old calf bottle...those are too big for him.
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21 comments:
That was a close one!
Never a dull moment!
Wow! I'm so glad you found out about the problem as early as you did! Poor little Scooter!
I can't even imagine how you went about clearing out that was of hay.
Make that "wad of hay." :-\
C'mon Scooter! You can do it, little man!
We're all pulling for the little guy.
Jan
(Google is disavowing all knowledge of who I am)
Glad to hear he's doing better.
This post speaks so large to all those who think farmers and ranchers just raise animals for the chance of profit.
I don't know of any who won't go out of their way to give an animal a chance and help them to overcome difficulties even tho' there is no chance of ever making a dime on said animal.
Hair on you, as the old timers used to say! :)
Yep...ditto what JB said "hair on you!"
I concur,that WAS a close one.. Alan saved the day? maybe a camaro might be in his future now! :)
I'm glad you found the problem in time - little feller deserves a fightin' chance.
Oh, that is so good you were able to find out what was wrong with him! Gold Dust did something to the outer part of his pastern and it is swollen been putting salve on it. Hopefully we can get the swelling down.
Dani, it was and I am glad of the outcome
Sara, that is exactly right...same at your place I know. lol
June, he is so tiny and he seemed grateful to be relieved of it
Joated, we are hoping...also hoping you are having fun on your trip!
Jan, each day he seems to grow a little stronger. I am going to try upping the amount of milk he gets at each feeding and see how he handles it.
CTG, thanks, we are too
JB, you are right about that. You do your best for every animal whether it is going to make you big bucks or you wonder what you will do with it. Thanks so much for your kind words
Linda, thank you too. You folks are the best!
Anon, in his dreams...maybe...but probably not in his driveway. lol
Rev Paul, we are doing our best to give him one. He was born so very prematurely that by rights he should have never made it through being born. Instead he is a real fighter and will follow you around the barn like a puppy begging for a bottle (and butting very hard with his hard little head)
LIsa, hope he gets right real soon.
Nice save, folks.
Thanks, Wil, it was his lucky day I guess
Oh my, poor little guy, it is a good thing Alan gave him the bread. He is such a cute calf.
I agree with JB!!!!
Hair on you!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/
OK. I'm a wuss. I'd have been running around with my hair on fire dialing 911.
What you have to do and your ability to do it and not lose fingers . . .
What a sweet, lucky little guy.
Nita, he is such a trouper...really trying to make it
LInda, thank you
Cathy, it was no big thing really. He is so compromised though. I am afraid we are going to lose him despite all our efforts. And he is so tiny..think about the size of a tall fox terrier. He couldn;t hurt me much
Wow. You sure have to know what you're doing to be country folk.
And I mean 'know' in the sense of understanding and accepting life . . it's hard facts along with the joy.
Wow.
Cathy, that is very true. And it is getting very depressing. We are hated for our ability to see reality and deal with life and death instead of thinking the world is a Disney paradise with talking animals. I read the comments people put on farm articles, and we are hated, and see animal rights groups getting videos that show decent farmers doing their jobs banned from YouTube, Facebook groups for farmers spammed to death by vegan activist groups and I despair.
Our milk inspector, a man in his mid seventies who has seen a great deal as a farmer first and then as an official, sat at my kitchen table yesterday and said that dairy farming in the United States is all done...over with...we are doomed. He feels that new regulations that are being forced on farms by cooperatives and milk companies will force all dairy farms out of business within the next few years. Frankly we are looking for exit strategies..just tired of fighting.
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