God blessed us and saved a calf

[buckwheatpaul]

A couple of hours ago I was feeding our cows and noticed that one of our momma cows was having problem delivering a calf....I thought that the calf was dead inside the mom so I called my dairy neighbor and together we got the momma cow into the head-gate and discovered that the calf's head was down and she could not deliver without our help.....we got the calf's head up and attached a snare around the head to keep it up and then attached the pull chains to the hoofs and gently delivered a beautiful healthy heifer calf....the calf is now clean and up nursing and God blessed us with another calf.....mom and baby are fine......praise God for the small miracles He sends our way!

[DxieLandMan]

Great news! I've lost a lot of cows and calves while calving. In fact, I lost a momma cow 2 weeks ago. I had to sell the orphan calf. I'm happy that you had a great outcome!

[JBinMN]

Glad to hear/read that things turned out well for everyone. Hope that Momma cow & baby heifer are just fine in recovering from the ordeal.

[xbeeman412]

Been there but with the goats and have had to pull more than I cared too. Glad U saved the baby and mom as well

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Great news! Happy for all concerned.

[RedlegEd]

Sometimes, the smallest miracles mean the most! Glad it worked out for you. Ed

[Boaz]

Glad the calf made it ! It's always a sad day when you lose one . Good on you that you discovered the mama cow having trouble .

[Preacher Jim]

The blessing of birth is a miracle Lord used you and your friend. I pulled a lot of calves in my life time and still am amazed at how great it is to see calves latch on with no help.

[Goatwhiskers]

Brings back memories of my feedlot days in west Kansas. For unknown reasons I never got too good at pulling a calf from a fat heifer without paralyzing her. However when the riders would bring me one that she managed to push out and the little bugger was mostly frozen with its tongue sticking out I was pretty good at restoring life with a bottle of warm electrolytes in the main line, then the calf went to the owner's daughter who had that touch to raise orphan calves. Old rancher wonce told me the best medecine for an orphan calf was a bottle of good whiskey. Said you sit down in the hay beside the calf, drink the whole bottle, then hit the little bugger in the head with the bottle. GW

[richhodg66]

Glad the little guy made it. I'm far from being a tree hugger, but I'm not sure I have what it takes to raise what I eat or be able to send it off to someone who would eat it. If I went through something like you just did, that calf would become a pet.

An old boss of mine used to raise cattle as a side thing and this time of year, he'd bring in poloroids of the new babies that had been born and had names for them. I asked him once how he sends them to slaughter after that and he said eventually they step on your foot or mash you against a fence or something and it get's a lot easier. Had to laugh, but I still think I'd have trouble doing it.

[bedbugbilly]

Glad it all worked out for you! Sometimes, nature just needs a set or two of helping hands. Now you have another one of God's four legged little wonders and I'll be that she's a sweetie too. I hope you named her "Miracle".

[JBinMN]

Glad the little guy made it. I'm far from being a tree hugger, but I'm not sure I have what it takes to raise what I eat or be able to send it off to someone who would eat it. If I went through something like you just did, that calf would become a pet.

An old boss of mine used to raise cattle as a side thing and this time of year, he'd bring in poloroids of the new babies that had been born and had names for them. I asked him once how he sends them to slaughter after that and he said eventually they step on your foot or mash you against a fence or something and it get's a lot easier. Had to laugh, but I still think I'd have trouble doing it.

Funny ya mention your inclination to not want to be involved in how the foodstuffs are raised & then processed & brought to market for purchase.

You are not alone & I am in no way trying to make any fun of you or anyone else. I just find it interesting that folks have changed so much in the last half century or so in modern times & more modern places.

We have friends that raise cattle for meat & pigs also. They get names. T-bone, Sirlion, & Porterhouse, etc. , as well as for the hogs, Porkchop, PulledPork & Mr. Ham & so on....

They even have the young grandchildren helping to name them.

It is a way to define just what they are... Their names are simply a way to differentiate between them, when need be, while also a constant reminder that they are destined to be food. From young to old, it is a cycle of feed & grow, then to market or butcher. No different than growing a garden or other large plots of land & raising crops for market/food.

It really only is in the last 50-60 years that more modern ( particularly city)folks have become separated from the origins of their food. Grocery stores & supermarkets have replaced going to the butcher for meats, if ya did not raise & butcher on your own. Visiting the butcher shop one would see the butcher processing & cutting meats right ion front of you , mostly "cut to order" right on the spot. Around here in the rural areas this still happens. In other countries it is still common to make a celebration or even a ritual of slaughtering, processing & consuming livestock.

The "disconnect" of many folks from the concept of "farming" to what they consume by buying in a grocery store, or supermarket, IMO, is not surprising. Folks are just not exposed to such things as much as they were in the past, & in my opinion as well, ought to be now a days.

To return to the gist of the OP...


I am still happy your cow & calf did OK & I also wish more folks would know just how your situation(calving) goes on all over & that those involved in raising livestock actually do care about their livestock & at the same time can know that what they are doing, eventually will be helping others by the doin of it.



G'Luck! & hope you & yours , as well as your livestock do well.

[buckwheatpaul]

JBinMN has some very valid points. We do eat about one of our cows a year. But for us we treat them well....but they are still cows....never the less we make sure that they have good food and water and shelter. We love to watch the calves run and kick up their heals....we love to watch the mother cows care for their calves....we bottle feed orphan calves and they are generally with us for as long as they live. When you are involved with the total process from birth to sale or birth to consumption it does make you appreciate life. IMHO

[blackthorn]

I grew up on a farm and animals were/are---food, whether they have a name or not. We had between 4 and 8 cows that we milked for the cream, which we sold. When a calf was born, my Dad would get it to drink from a bucket from the get-go. We milked the cow, put the milk in a bucket and got the calf to suck on our fingers. Once we had the calf sucking our fingers, we guided its head into the bucket and it very quickly caught on to the idea. The calf got the whole milk (in the bucket) from its mother for the first couple of days then it got a mix of pure and separated milk thereafter.

[richhodg66]

Well, venison is about the only red meat we have in the house. No qualms at all with pulling the trigger on a wild deer, in fact, easier than it would be for a domestic animal, at least the deer had a life other than being food. Not criticizing anybody who raises stock.

I killed probably the last squirrel of the season this afternoon. It's in the freezer now. I really think everybody should have to render something from living being all the way into food every now and then, even if it's as simple as catching, cleaning and cooking a fish.

[JBinMN]

Well, venison is about the only red meat we have in the house. No qualms at all with pulling the trigger on a wild deer, in fact, easier than it would be for a domestic animal, at least the deer had a life other than being food. Not criticizing anybody who raises stock.

I killed probably the last squirrel of the season this afternoon. It's in the freezer now. I really think everybody should have to render something from living being all the way into food every now and then, even if it's as simple as catching, cleaning and cooking a fish.

[brass410]

too many people think food comes cello wrapped from the store.

[starmac]

too many people think food comes cello wrapped from the store.

It is probably worse than you think, As a trucker I have had numerous talks, with people that truly thinks trucks should be outlawed. I have ask every one of them where they would get their groceries, and the answer has always been from the store, just like everybody else, about all you can do is a face palm. lol

[Echo]

I did the same thing almost 60 years ago, in Germany. We were stationed @ Bitburg AB, and my family & I took up residence in a little farming village several miles north of the base, on the third floor of a farm house. One day the farmer came up and said 'Herr Sanford, you come!'. It was obvious he needed my help, I knew not what for. We went down into the basement, where he kept his cows & pigs, and there was a cow, on her side, with a rope coming out of her. He said 'We pull' - we did, and here came this calf. He gave me a shot of schnaps immediately, said I looked a little off. Well...