Two calves born yesterday means there is one more straggling cow to calf and we will finally be completely done. We have had mostly good days but there are always those days that no matter how hard we try, the outcome is not good. This definitely part of raising livestock, having your own business, and frankly part of life.
During calving season, I learned why my husband does not like to hunt…we were having a conversation with our plumber, and Brad explained that he does not enjoy hunting because we work so hard day in and day out to keep animals alive. We loose sleep, stress over the best decisions, and work extremely hard. We check cows around the clock so if there are any problems we know about them, hopefully, early enough to assist the cow if necessary.
I do most of the early morning checks. One particular morning we had 3 new babies. The last calf that I found was cold, mom was loving on her, but the calf was not getting up. It took me a minute but I finally notice that his intestines were hanging out of his navel in his peritoneum sack. It filled the palm of my hand. Brad called the vet and the vet said that she could do the surgery but she believed that Brad would have just as much luck as she would to have a successful surgery.
So we decided to try. We got all the supplies and gave it a valiant effort but to no avail. I was holding the calves head and front legs and I could feel the life drain out of this calf. A feeling that I have only experienced once before and I hope to never experience it again!
People who raise livestock do everything they can to keep the animals alive. We have calves in our houses and good cars, we tube calves, we stress about sleeping through our alarms, we work super hard, we loose sleep, and we do anything we can. It can be extremely heart breaking but I would not change it.
With all of that, I am extremely grateful Brad was able to try to save this calf. It is very important because we do not want anything to die without doing anything and everything we can. One thing I know for sure, if it ever is easy to lose an animal, I need to change what I am doing.