I had not planned to spend the weekend doing hard work, but things go awry around here pretty often. I know I had bragged about the fall calf crop and I still think they are pretty nice; but that one old cow, the last one due, just could not make the normal birthing occur. Therefore, it was a long and sleepless weekend on the rock pile.
I saw the old cow, she is about 7 and a good producer that weans off big calves, and I can prove the weaning weights of her past progeny, Anyhow, she was by herself and switching her tail about noon on Friday. I started watching her and continued keeping my eye on her all afternoon. We ate supper pretty early, and I decided to saddle Snip because I wanted to get close to the cow without disturbing her much. The cattle pay no attention to Snip but come to the truck in case of feed.
Cow in question was grazing along but still by herself and all the signs were visible that the baby was on the way. I rode around the other cattle and admired the calves for awhile before deciding to move the laboring cow to the pen. It was sorta an afterthought to get her up, and I would much rather see them domino on the clean fresh grass. She moved along steadily and went right into the pen when we got there. I was surprised at how easily she handled due to her close delivery.
We have a delivery stall in the sick pen that is kept ready. It has clean hay and a good light, is close to the water faucet and plenty big for calving out a hefty sized cow. Old Molly, or whatever her name was, walked right in and laid down. I was pretty sure all was well and I went to the house for a cup of coffee.
I meandered back to the barn just after 10 o'clock expecting a dandy calf to be up and nursing. I was surprised to find one hind foot presented and the cow in need of help. I proceeded to prepare myself for hard delivery, gloved up and did the exam looking for the other foot. No such luck and the cow was getting pretty stressed.
I knew to call the vet and, of course, being close to midnight, he was not very happy with me. Wanted to know if I could bring her into the clinic and I just laughed at him. So I waited for an hour for the lights to come off the road and down the drive.
It took both of us to sew the cow back together after the C-section. The calf was weak, but we got it up and it sucked a bottle of colostrum. Daylight greeted us as the vet left the barn. I was worn out but knew I was blessed; the cow didn't die and we got a live heifer calf.
It is my opinion, and everyone has one, nodding off in church is forgiven if your head jerks you into reality as it falls backward! A good elbow in the side will also bring a feller back into real time. I just believe the good Lord overlooks some nodding off. He is forgiving, and much more than some close relatives!
Bill is the pen name used by the Gravette-area author of this weekly column. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 09/30/2015