08/11/2026
Remember Flo? On May 5th, a month before we were expecting her, Ruby gave birth to an 11 pound preemie we later named Florence. We didn’t name her for a few days, not knowing if she was going to survive. For 24 hours we milked colostrum out of Ruby and syringe and bottle fed it to her cria. It took three of us initially to hold Ruby down and milk out that colostrum while she fought us. It also took feedings every 3 hours for the first three nights to make sure Florence was getting enough milk to keep her going. While first time mom Ruby was not happy we were milking her, she was a good mom, protective and interested in her cria, and also a good milk producer, and she did seem to understand we were helping her baby get stronger. By May 7th, Flo was finally strong enough to stand , walk and nurse on her own. We continued to monitor her and supplement when we felt it was needed, and she continued to gain weight and strength until we finally named her, deciding she was going to make it! Here is Flo this week, big and strong and thriving with the other cria at the farm. Hard to believe she was once a tiny, weak little cria!
