Thursday, April 11, 2013

They're not all happy endings.....

Jesusita~to say she's a favorite would be an understatement!
Never is life and death more evident then on the farm. When you become the caretaker of animals, you take on all responsibilities good and bad. In a way I feel it is a little like playing God and yet never is it more apparent that we are not the ones in charge.

Most births happen without difficulty and go as planned. Every once in a while a Lady will need help, but most often nature takes it course and the female body gets to show off a bit. From our Ladies is where I learned to trust the birth process and helped a little with my decision to have my own son at home.

Then some don't go as planned. I guess you could call me an anxious Midwife especially when it comes to some of my favorite Ladies. So when the all time favorite started to show some signs of going into labor the other evening, it didn't bother me at all to trudge back out to the barn in my pj's to check on her progress. This was her 8th calf and she had no history at all of calving troubles, so mostly the vigilance was for my sake! The first check showed she was in some discomfort, but I knew it would probably be several hours before any real progress. So I made the decision to wait and head back out later. The second check late into the night showed about the same results, nothing showing, and no obvious sign she was having any troubles.

I gave her some scratches and reassuring words as she nuzzled up to me for some attention. Nothing looked out of the ordinary and I knew the rest of the crew would be up for morning milking shortly, so I headed back to bed.

My farmer headed out to morning milking a bit early to check on her......he found a dead bull calf.

We will never know exactly the cause, that's just the way it is in situations like this. Sometimes things just don't end the way we want them to. Luckily Jesusita is doing well and very happy to be back in the milking herd. That's the best news you can get from an unhappy ending.

5 comments:

  1. With our pigs farrowing the past few weeks I've had my share of dead babies as well, and plenty of dead calves in the past. At least mama was ok this time and she doesn't have any bad side effects, that really is the most you can hope for sometimes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's just life on farm! And just life in general, in fact!

      Hope your farrowing went well this year Jamie!

      Delete
  2. Funny how your post is similar to my last one. I TOTALLY get it.


    http://www.afarmwife.com/2013/04/c-section-warning-very-graphic.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just read yours last night Diane, right after I finished this one! Life full circle, you lost a cow and we lost a calf! Frustrating that we aren't the One in control sometimes, it's a hard reminder.

      Hope your little baby is off to a good start! And glad you got pictures of the c-section! We've never had to do one (knock on wood!) so very interesting for this farm girl to see as well!

      Delete
    2. We've never had pigs but my friend raises them and I love to hear about other areas of farming. Keep up the honest posts. We are our own advertising and we need to keep the truth out there - even the not so nice part. Blessings!

      Delete