Harry's tale

The next time you hear someone saying how cruel it is to take calves away from their mothers, think of little Harry.

His mama, #88 Helga was due soon. Any day. My father-in-law was getting a shower for church Wednesday night. Jesse went down to start chores early, expecting a calf soon. I was doing up a few dishes so I could head down for chores.

My phone rang and it was Jesse, saying he needed help pulling a calf. For those that don't know, pulling a calf is when we have to assist a cow who's experiencing a difficult labor. In a perfect world, every cow would freshen smoothly, every calf would come out quickly and mama and baby would be bright eyed and bushy tailed. However, complications happen sometimes, and it's important that we don't get too far from the barn when calves are due.

This was one of those times. Lyla was watching a movie and TR was downstairs getting dressed, and I grabbed Owen and the stroller and raced to the barn. When I got to the barn, there wasn't much I could do. Jesse was pulling with all his might, and there just wasn't enough room for the head to come out. Mama Helga was flat out on her side, foaming at the mouth, and had clearly given up having the calf altogether.

I tried to help Jesse and failed, so I left Owen in the stroller in the barn, and ran up to the house to get TR. Grabbed a snack for Owen and Lyla, brought Lyla down to the barn with me, and they were just moving the calf out of the pen.

Lyla asked, "Why is he (the calf) all wet?!" I said, "He was just born!"

What an adrenaline rush! Feeling like you're literally racing against the clock to save mama and baby!

After mama went up to her tie stall for her grain, we brought the calf to her, thinking she may lick him and clean him up a bit. But she wanted nothing to do with him :/ So we moved him to his own stall, wiped him up the best we could, and coaxed him to drink some nice warm colostrum 😋

I'm happy to report after some TLC, both mama and baby are doing well today! 🙌

I wanted to share one example of how much we care for our animals. It pains us to see them in pain or struggling, because God entrusted these animals to us to care for. It doesn't benefit us at all to mistreat our cows. They are spoiled with good food, clean, dry, cool places to rest and chew their cud, and fresh water on demand. We step in when we have to in order to ensure all our cows and calves are taken care of. We don't over-medicate, and we don't let them suffer, like some animal rights groups would have you think. We do the best we can, everyday, and we thank God for giving us the opportunity to do so. <3

Anywayyyy, Harry will be babied here for a week and will looking for a new home next Wednesday! We also have 4 more calves do soon, and as of now, they all will be sold too! Contact us if you'd like to add a healthy little Holstein to your life :)