To start at the beginning, our youngest daughter has an old cow named Sugar Plum. She raised her on a bottle when she was a little girl. Sugar Plum is getting pretty old but, oh my goodness, she's the sweetest cow ever. We have quite a lot of money invested in our Angus herd, but, in my opinion, Sugar Plum has the most value of all.....sentimental value, that is.
So, as luck would have it, she calved while my husband was out of town for work. She's never had a problem before. But, like I said, she's getting old. This birth was hard on her, but, thankfully, she's doing fine now. She had a pretty little bull calf. Emphasis on "little."
He was tiny and weak. He couldn't even stand to nurse. And, bless her heart, Sugar Plum is so gentle, she let me get her milk started and put the baby on her right out in the middle of the pasture. But, I think she was stressed from the birth and she just wasn't giving much milk. And the baby couldn't stand on his own to nurse.
So, fast forward to that evening, about 20 minutes before Tractor Supply Company closed, I decided I needed colostrum. Following a very fast drive to town, along with a phone call to TSC and a helpful employee gathering what I needed and bringing it to the front register, I got a bottle of colostrum down the baby and had both mama and baby in the lot.
The following morning the baby again sucked the bottle well. I was feeling confident that he would live but not excited at the prospect of having a bottle baby. However, that evening he didn't nurse the bottle well at all, and appeared weaker. The following morning, he was even weaker and wouldn't suck the bottle PLUS the mama wasn't feeling well.
So, both mama and baby took a trip to the vet. While there, the vet milked the mama out and used a tube to get it down the baby. That evening, I saw the baby up and nursing so I didn't give him a bottle. Same thing the following morning and evening. Whew....all was well.
Nope! The next morning, which was Sunday, the baby was panting and acting dehydrated. So, back to the bottle. This time, I began using milk replacer instead of colostrum. I also started adding gatorade and liquid vitamin B12 and yogurt.
Well , guess what??!! Finally he's doing better! He will be one week old tomorrow and my husband comes home from work tomorrow. Thank the Lord!
Oh, did I mention, that Sunday morning, before I discovered that the calf was dehydrated, I had to take my dog to the emergency vet for stitches?? Somehow, I have no idea how, he sliced his chest open while playing in the backyard.
Needless to say, it's been a rough few days.
As far as the name....our youngest daughter attends the University of Oklahoma and she's a huge fan of Buddy Hield, who plays for the men's basketball team. The baby calf is named Buddy, after him. Buddy Hield is a fighter and has overcome a lot. I think the calf will follow in his footsteps.
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