March 2010 Cowcamp left me with 15 orphan calves, or leppies, to bottle feed. April brought more. Two of the boys went coyote hunting one very cold and foggy April day and ran across a cow who had gotten herself stuck in the mud. Predators had attacked and mutilated her while she lay there defenseless in the creekbed, so the boys humanely destroyed her...then noticed her stomach roll.
They realized immediately she had a calf inside, and with a quick cell phone call to the vet 7 hours away, they were told they had 3 minutes, so with the vet walking them through the steps and armed with a pocket knife, they delivered her by Cesarean section.
When they finally got her to me, she was so far gone, even the inside of her mouth was cold. We worked on her with towels, hair dryer, and blankets, but we got no response. Eventually, we gave up. That is when Cider took over. He licked her for hours and nurtured her until she finally got to her feet and we got a bottle of colostrum in her. He babied her through the night and the following morning, she was strong enough to go to the barn with the other babies.
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| Where we failed and gave up, Cider took over |
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| Hours later... |
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| later that night, a kitchen cruise! |
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| Can you spot the imposter?? Little Rio is now 8 months old, she and two of the other 26 leppies are being raised as nurse cows for future orphans. Good job Cider!!  |
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