Another good sign

Potty break and another pint of milk.  Now it is back down for a nap.  If we can keep her eating a pint every two hours, that would be super.  She still has some rather thin patches of hair and doesn't put her tongue back into her mouth all the time, but she is improving.  We kind of think that we should have woken her up to feed her again last night - she went almost 8 hours without a feeding.  Plus, got out from under her blanket.  Kind of a calf ICU around here right now.

That mat she is on is an 4 x 8 foot dairy cow mat.  We had it for our old lab.  Outdoors in the winter with a heat lamp above so he would stay warm.  Then when he was older and needed to be in the house, we moved it into the basement so he wouldn't have to lay directly on the concrete (unless by choice in the summer).  It is nearly two inches thick, so makes a nice place for her that is also easy to clean and the textured surface keeps it from being too slippery.  She isn't the first calf to use it.  One other thing it works well for - exercising for humans.  It has enough give that you don't hurt your knees and such when doing running in place or other exercises (when it isn't in use by a calf it makes a great workout mat).

She looks better now

It is a roller coaster around here sometimes.  Now she looks better.  She is still week, but every two hours she is eating.  Hopefully we will get her back up to her normal amount by tomorrow.  As long as she wants to eat, we have the advantage.

One step forward, two steps back in the Saga of Peanut Junior

MONDAY
Backsliding.

She didn't look good this am - even though she is in the house, she is acting like she is cold.  We got her up and she drank her own bottle.  Just over a pint, but at least she drank on her own.

 Bad side - she fell over rather than laying down.  Now she isn't looking so hot.  But then, by the time we uploaded photos, she looked just awful again.  So why put all this (and the bad photos) here?  Because when dealing with hypothermia, one of the most helpful things, to me, was to see the various photos and journal entries I had made when we dealt with Peanut.  It sounds weird, but it also lends hope - to know that with a lot of TLC, things can come along.

After her bottle - out of juice and won't even turn her head like a normal calf to sleep.  However, 1/2 hour later - she has her head up and looks better.  Will see - it is always along 'game'.  Ups/downs, continuous watching and lots of praying.  Her calf jacket is getting washed - she still drools quite a bit.

Well, the camera is now charging - not even enough juice for a single photo.  However, she is at least turning her head to sleep like calves normally do - with her nose pointed towards her body.





SUNDAY
Looking a lot better - we took some video as she is getting up and laying down on her own as well as trying to run, sort of, and jump and start sucking on anything that she wanted to explore!  She drank 2 quarts and 1 pint today.  Hopefully things will continue to improve.

SATURDAY
Improvement

yes, that is her tongue hanging out. She doesn't quite get keeping it in her mouth yet. She only weighs about 45 pounds - less than 1/2 of what our dogs weigh. Pretty small considering most of our calves are around 100-120 pounds at birth


THURSDAY
little one looked like it might die last night, so into the house it came. I hate dealing with hypothermia. They always look sooo bad. Even with its coat on, just wasn't doing well. So, complete with heating pad, thick rubber mat and blankets, it spent the night indoors.

Got it to eat almost a whole pint this am. Peanut isn't able to feed the baby, though she likes it. Waiting on a call from vet to double check meds we think it needs (we are in a selenium deficient area). Why wait? My bottle expired last year (hadn't needed since then) and I need to be sure it hasn't gone bad. If so, I will go pick some up, but if I can use this it would be easier. I do know that some drugs go bad really quickly and you can really get sick/make things a lot worse if you use them. Hoping this one is ok as it is only a few months.


WEDNESDAY
Has another page. Long story, but this is definitely not the way a normal beef farm runs. Peanut would be long gone on a regular farm as she wouldn't breed for several cycles, but since we do petting zoos and she is one of the stars, she is still around. 

Had an accident last summer . . . the bull broke into her pen. Well, last night, the little accident arrived. Cute baby girl. Very small (like Peanut - glad actually as Peanut isn't very big).

Anyway - cold (of course) and calf didn't just jump up and nurse (go figure), so I went out to feed the baby.

Peanut gets one look at the bottle and starts getting really excited. Oh great, even if Peanut is small, 900 pounds of small is still bigger than I am

So, dh gets Peanut looking at treats (aka - molasses covered feed) and then we try to feed the baby. No go on the bottle, so we tubed her. She looks better with colostrum in her tummy. Will do more in a few hours (hopefully she will want the bottle then).

Glad she waited until last night to come as I didn't get home from work until 10:30.

Oh, if you want to catch up on Peanut, the link is Here: http://www.scraprageous.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html January 20, 2010 and back to December 30th of 2009.

Izzy Update - unfortunately Izzy aborted her baby when she got sick about a month ago. It was bittersweet as there was a good chance Izzy most likely would have died if this had not occurred. After a few days of illness, Izzy is now back up and almost fully returned to her normal, ornery self. She is having fun pushing around the puppies these days as she gets to run around with them while we are out working.

The kids said that Izzy is the new calves aunt. Aunt Izzy doesn't go in the pen, but she does watch.

Oh - as I was asked if someone could help out, in a monetary manner, there is a way.  Rather than just sending money, if you like, you can purchase a reusable shopping bag.  I have started making various feedbags used on our farm (and others) into reusable shopping bags.  You can find information at www.scraprageous.com.  The site is still being worked on, or visit the Etsy Shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/Scraprageous.  I also sell on Ebay if you prefer that format, here is the link to one of my auctions:   http://www.ebay.com/itm/300876705364?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649