09/02/2016
Isn’t he beautiful? Who can’t fall immediately in love with those dark, dreamy, lil’ Jersey calf eyes?!
This is a first for Quail Hollow Farm, a baby calf born here at the farm! He came about a month later than expected, but he was worth the wait!! We purchased his mama already bred and had to
trust the information we were given. Not knowing exactly when she would deliver has been like watching for the pot to boil, but it eventually does and here he is.:)
Monte just happened to glance out our kitchen window last Saturday afternoon and saw Rosie’s water break. We got right down to the farm and within a few minutes we were able to witness his birth. Amazing!
You would think that with all the animals we have raised and all the births we have witnessed that it would lessen the grandeur of another baby born on the farm. It doesn’t. It never gets old. It is always a miracle! Mother and baby doing fine, … now.
Here’s a real life on the farm story:
Rosie, being the wonderful Jersey milk cow that she is, came into a lot of milk all at once. This is a good thing when you deliver a baby, something you watch for to tell that the birth will be soon. Jerseys
are REALY good at producing a lot of high quality milk.
Rosie was in fact so good at it that it nearly killed her. Everything was fine and normal, baby up and feeding, mama eating and tending to her little one, until the next day.
Sunday afternoon Monte and I went down to the farm to check on things and found Rosie lying down and unable to get up. At first we thought she was just being lazy, but nothing that we did would get her on her feet and it became apparent that she could hardly move
her legs. (This is a really bad sign!)
There are no longer any dairyman around here and being the weekend, no vet to call either. I immediately consulted the veterinary books we keep and searched the web. The symptoms
seemed vaguely familiar to me, something I had read awhile back. I checked and did my own diagnosis in a hurry. Milk fever. Not uncommon to high producing dairy cows like Jerseys, generally not
as young as Rosie, but it fit. If left untreated she would die. (In fact, the case I read about months before, the cow did die.) If treated immediately, the prognosis was good.
Here is where the story gets interesting.
I called our local veterinarian, no after hours number. I called Mesquite, no luck. I called the 24-hour emergency hotline in Las Vegas. When I told them what we were dealing with I was
informed by the dispatcher that there was no vet in the area who treats bovines (cows) and that I could not purchase the needed medicine for her without a vet seeing the “patient.” Of course, the
fact that we could not bring the “patient” to town and we live an inconvenient hour away and that it was a Sunday afternoon, I didn’t expect any vet to make the house call. The dispatcher told me that
the best she could do was to contact their “exotic animals” vet and he would get back with us.
OK, there is so much in that last paragraph that I want to talk about!
Back to the story … Desperation is an important emotion. I called the closest people I know of that might have any clue, our dear friends at Red Acre Farm, Symbria and Sara Patterson in Cedar City,Utah who also raise Jersey cows for their CSA. They had never experienced Milk Fever before but began problem solving with us. They gave us some names of vets that could help.
To shorten the story somewhat, between the two of us we had 3 heaven sent vets (all from Utah) on the phone with us, or for the Pattersons, within walking distance, willing to help.
Providence smiles!!! All three vets agreed with my diagnosis and were willing to meet with us to give us the medication so we could administer it. (Yea, there are vets who care!!)
We decided the quickest way to get the meds was for Sara Patterson (my hero) to pick them up from her neighbor vet and start driving south from Cedar City toward us. I got myself together and
started driving north, Monte caring for Rosie, Becca our daughter caring for the little one while his mama was unable to nurse. Within
2 hours we had the needed medication. Here is where Monte “turns me on”, again. Sorry, I can’t help myself.
The medication needed was an intravenous drip of calcium. What happened to Rosie in a nutshell: While preparing for birth and baby,
Rosie produced so much rich milk so fast she did not have enough calcium in her stores for the sudden emergence of milk and (as good mama’s do), she robbed from her own blood the needed
calcium to give for milk for her baby. With a quick calcium deficiency, Rosie went down. No problem, replace the calcium. How many people have had to give a 1,000+ lb. cow an IV drip?
While I was travelling Monte did a quick Youtube search on how to administer an IV to a cows jugular vein. (You’ve got to love Youtube!) Not as easy as it looks when a cow is down. Also, you’ve heard of leather, that tough cow hide they make belts out of.
Try pushing a thick needle through that and hope you hit the vein! Ah, my heart patters again:)
Well, he did it. The vets all agreed that the drip needed to be slow so as to not cause Rosie a sudden heart attack. Slow and steady, 2 quarts worth. After a couple of hours, or so it seemed, the
medicine was delivered, Rosie was not getting worse, there was nothing to do but wait. As it was way past midnight now and only a few hours till the new day began, we left Rosie for the night and in
the hands of Providence.
Monte and I woke early, ran down to the farm to find a happy Rosie on her feet chewing her cud, and a full tummied, contented little calf happily dozing.
Amazing! I know I already used that word once, but here it is again. We had just witnessed another “amazing miracle! Modern medicine is miraculous!!!
I am ever so grateful to those vets who were willing to help. They are true healers! And, for “amazing” friends, Symbria and Sara. We love you guys. Thanks for always being there for us!!! And, for the most “amazing” husband who is not afraid to do the hard things. How could this farm survive without you?
(I am also grateful for that Intermediary EMT course Monte and I took years ago. We trained on our local ambulance for a time and had the training to give IV’s, etc. That training has been invaluable to us through the years in so many ways.)
Ok, I can’t let it go. Back to that paragraph I wanted to talk about.
Just think about it. In all of the metropolitan town of Las Vegas, no, in all of Southern Nevada, population over a half million people, there is not one vet to be found to treat one cow? !
Do not nearly all half million of those people drink milk on their (our) daily breakfast cereal, enjoy an occasional bowl of ice cream, or lunch on a good cheese sandwich? Where does all that dairy come from? Where are the vets to treat those dairy cows? Well,
good question. The answer is obvious, nowhere around here!
I had a conversation with Dave C***s, owner of Anderson Dairy
recently (the local Las Vegas dairy). Anderson Dairy used to
keep their dairy herd out here in Moapa Valley. They don’t
anymore. THEY DON’T OWN COWS ANYMORE! They contract
that part out now, shipping someone else’s cow’s milk in to their facility. No wonder there is no need for a “bovine vet”.
Just another thought: What happens if the trucks should stop rolling? I don’t know. Something I think about from time to time. This doesn’t just apply to milk. It applies to all of our food. THANK
YOU TO ALL WHO SUPPORT THIS FARM!!!
I know I am preaching to the choir here, you guys obviously get it.. Thank you for supporting local! If the trucks stopped rolling, barring a massive break in the pavement on I-15 and the North Shore Road, you would and do, get your fresh picked, farm fresh
wholesome crops each week. For our Full-dieters who travel our way, in addition to the crops they get fresh dairy, eggs, meats, grains, etc. all grown and produced right here at our farm or from our local neighbors. What a great thing we all have going here, just a reminder of how vulnerable we can be and how important this work is. It’s the end of another miserable summer, I love my job!
All this from a simple case of Milk Fever.
Mama cow and baby doing really fine!:)
