tomgobbler Report post Posted April 3, 2013 thoguht i'de share my experiance with yawl, on saturday my brother in law called and asked if i could go pull a calf for him, one of our cows was having troubles and couldnt get the calf out.... so i grabbed the calf puller and we hauled butt out there and found the cow, laying beside a cedar tree and she was all done in... she had all but given up, there was a hoof and about 3inches of nose sticking out....9 the same amount that was stickining out an hours earlier when he found her, no progress had been made in an hour) and no telling how long she had been there before that.... i thought there was no way that the calf was still alive, my hope was just to save the momma.... so we got the chain hooked up to a foot and started to comealong it out and pull.... got one foot out a little ways, could then start to see the other foot, so i reached in and wrapped the chain around the other foot and we comalonged it out and finally got both front feet and head out, and i looked down and saw an eye blink.... i thought there is no way.... so we pulled and pulled and pulled and finally got the rest of the calf out and onto the ground..... the cow was spent she had about had enough.... just layed there.... well i grabbed some tuffes of grass and started rubbing down / and trying to dry off the calf..... did as best i could with grass.... ( not a great job though... ) but it was breathing..... i told my brother in law we needed to go back to town and get some towels and a calf bottle and try and milk here and get that calf to get that first milk which is the most important, that i didint think momma was going to get up for quite awile... so we headed back to town, got her some water and hay, and towels and bottle.... ( took about an hour) well when we got back the cow was standing and had licked it off, but the calf could not stand.... i guess its front ankles were to sore from us pulling on them.... and now we could not milk her in the open range as she was staning and wouldnt have any of that. so back to town to get horse trailer and panels and we fianlly got her and the calf loaded and brough there to the house so we could tie her up to milk her of hold the calf up there... we tried holding the calf up there and he got what was there, althgouth it wasnt much.... ( first time heifer, with not much milk) did it again the next morning, calf could still not stand up on its own..... did this for a coupel days, and held him up to were his ankles would get stronger.... decided we should buy some supplement as her bag still didnt have much there.... so now we are feeding him a little to go with what ever he is getting from momma.... my 2 year old holding the calf bottle and my 5 year old feeding the calf... good looking bull dont ya think ???!!! when i first saw it never thought it would make it... both seem to be doing good.... now have some good chores for the kids to do, got to love having a little livestock around to give the kids some responsibility.... tommy 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snapshot Report post Posted April 3, 2013 Great story. Glad the outcome was a postive one. Nice pics of your kids. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
6ANut Report post Posted April 3, 2013 Great story thanks for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues 'n' Sheep Report post Posted April 3, 2013 I love it!!! Great story!! Thanks for sharing it... and I also love to hear when kids really grow up knowing that dinner comes from real life... not from a plastic wrapper! Cheers!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjhunt2 Report post Posted April 3, 2013 Great story and a happy ending for everyone. The pictures are priceless. Thanks for sharing. TJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pine Donkey Report post Posted April 3, 2013 Great story Tommy. This brings back several great memories of our kids feeding rescue calves. Thanks for brightening up our day whit the story. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azslim Report post Posted April 3, 2013 I miss those days, only because it has been many years since I checked the heifers at 2200, 0200 and 0600. We always had a couple dozen 2 year olds we kept in the corral behind the barn for their first calves. Helping them calve and looking at the surprise and wonderment in their eyes as they checked out their first calf. Or bailing over the fence in a hurry when the mama instinct kicked in hard. Good way for a kid to grow up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Meyer Report post Posted April 4, 2013 Great Story and cute pic's. Thanks for sharing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted April 4, 2013 Wow, that's quite the story. Glad everything worked out ok. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
