A Miracle

Our third Black Hereford calf arrived on Saturday evening... just barely. Her mama is not very big, and she is. She got stuck at the shoulders, and after some fruitless pulling, we called the vet. Just after the call, Troy was able to get the shoulders out, but just as Melissa was preparing to call the vet back and tell him not to come, the hips got stuck.
There was no way we were getting the hips free. The calf was breathing, so we just kept Mama down and waited for the vet. The nearest good vet is 25 miles away, so we were waiting a while.
Once it was all over, we had a partly paralyzed cow and a pretty traumatized calf. Though only 81 pounds, she is a big-boned baby! We tube fed her some colostrum replacer and put her in the warmer for the night.
Sunday was the same. She showed very little interest in sucking, and we were quickly giving up on her. The heater quit working in the calf warmer, and it was bitter cold. While Mama wasn't showing much interest in the calf, we still didn't want to separate them, so Melissa made a little fleece jacket to help keep the chill off.

Brockel Brut 118 x SF Lady Jane 311

Monday morning, Mama was wobbly but on her feet. We helped baby stand up a couple times, and she showed much more interest in eating while she was on her feet. By evening, she was able to get up on her own.
And here she is on Tuesday, running and bucking.

Much to our surprise, after two days, her mama did decide to mother her, and they are both doing great now. She is red, and unfortunately, her daddy is a half-brother to our homozygous black bull, but she is such a good-looking heifer that she may stick around anyway, even if it's just in the commercial herd. After all she went through, she deserves a chance.

We've named her Miracle.