This girl is my favorite 14 year old!!! She is pretty amazing! We have been calving and busy as can be. Brad and Brock went to look at sheep in Iowa and other surrounding states. The girls and I stayed home and took care of cows.
I always get nervous when Brad leaves, because more often than not something goes wrong and at times dies. Not this time!!! 💃💃💃💃💃
We checked cows around the clock! And had some struggles but worked through them. Maryann did not go to school while they were gone and work her butt off. I feel very strongly that she learned more helping me, those few days, then she would have learned from school. She amazed me and I am extremely proud of all that she did. I could not have done what we did and kept sane without her help!
I could go on and on about all that she tackled and how much she did but I am going to just focus on Little Red. Tuesday morning, we dropped Emma off at school and then we went to the corn stocks to check cows. We divided and conquered checking cows, found a couple of new babies, and then our hearts sank when we saw this little red roan heifer laying flat and covered in mud. The calf was still alive but was born on ice and was slipping every time she tried to get up.
We picked up this frozen heifer and headed to the road, of course the cow calved all the way across the field from the truck. Some friends showed up with a sled which we used to get the calf to the road. We started pulling it together and then I needed a break and Maryann just jump in and pulled the calf herself. When we got back to the barn, we put the calf in the “hot box”, tubed her with some colostrum, and let her hang out while we went back and got her mom.
After we completed that task, we came back and rubbed on Little Red. Maryann gets very invested in these babies and is very nurturing. She has so much patience and drive to keep them alive and going. She helped tube the heifer again and we gave her more time. We got her to nurse later during the day and today she is going great.
Because of this amazing 14 year old, we created many memories, kept a few calves going, and I was able to watch this young lady blossom before my eyes. She is going to go places in life and I will be her number 1 fan!! Love raising our kids in agriculture and watching the people they turn into.
