700th Blog Post

With temperatures into the low 20s overnight, Phil headed out early this morning (before I woke up) with the tractor. While the wet ground was frozen, he wanted to bring up the cows' mineral feeder and the water wagon. He made it halfway up the slope before sliding. He stopped about a foot from the live electric fence.

He came over and got me and the truck. By now it was almost 7:30 and the sun was up and shining, though the ground was firm. The truck was not able to pull the tractor and water wagon, so we left it, midslope, and managed to get both tractor and truck away, despite the surface thawing.

Phil then went to bring the cows hay. I came to see how he managed the cows, and noticed that Babe's little Denise was missing.

Denise was lying downslope, curled up, curly hair warm in the sun. She showed no inclination to stand up, so I picked her up and carried her a few feet before she struggled and staggered away. She squirted out the back. No! Walked five feet, squirted out the back again, clear yellow, with bloody streaks. But not the indicative stench of scours. She headed right to her mom and ate.

The various references we have didn't have any diagnosis that matched the age and symptoms. (Apparently, different forms of scours start during the first three weeks of life.) All the diagnoses sounded pretty serious, so I headed over and gave her a few ounces of a mix of Arnica, garlic juice, aloe vera, and apple cider vinegar. Her stool seemed to be basically normal in consistency then, but still quite bloody.

A few hours later, I returned with the potent mixture. I then gave her a few ounces of electrolytes, but she stood up, and scooted over to her mom. I watched her nurse for about ten minutes, then trot away with Babe downslope.

Is her little body just a bit stressed from a rough first ten days? (In retrospect, though there has been some sun, we've also had several days of strong wind, over two inches of rain, and a three inch snowfall.) Time will tell.

I had several friends come down today to play with the puppies. At four weeks, they have periods of energetic activity. Two more weeks, apparently, will show off their personalities much more. That'll be fun to see!