Hello Everyone!  I just want to give an update.  I am still blogging.  I have not completely dropped off the face of the blogging world.  I have set up a new site here.  I would love for you to follow me there.  If you are new to finding me, I would love for you to catch a glimpse into my life by reading my old posts on this site, then jump on over to here and see whats happening today.  And thanks for being a part of Livin' the Life....the Farm Life that is......

 

Update on the "Convincing Process "

UPDATE!!!
It's official.......She LOVES him!!!!!!

 My Farmer and his most loving and loyal companion stepped into the corral with bitch mom yesterday and she went after them.  That is a sure sign that she is convinced.   The calf is hers.  She is truly his protector now.
I am so thankful that she finally has accepted him.  And he is happy too.  You can just tell.  He is a bit more perky.  He is a happy calf because he once again has a momma that loves him.  And momma's happy cuz now she gets to be let out of the corral and back out to pasture with the rest of the herd with her most wonderful baby.  (I took a short video of them and I will try and post it on my Facebook page.)

I told you my Farmer would win.  He is pretty dang good at "convincing".  Yep, life is good now.  Everyone is happy......as we are...Livin' the Life.......the Farm Life that is.

The "Convincing" Process of Grafting a Calf.......

We have had two sets of twins this year. Both mommas took both twins.  (yes, sometimes a momma cow will walk away from one of the twins)  A momma cow can raise twins but it's pretty hard on her, unless she's a milk cow (meaning she has tons of milk, which neither of these cows did). It's also hard on the babies.  Neither will get the nutrition they really need. We've handled twins in different ways in the past, depending on the situation. We've let a momma raise both twins because she seemed to have lots of milk (I sure felt sorry for her by the end of summer. She was skin and bones),  we've supplemented twins with a bottle (which was a pain in the rear end),  and we've taken one twin off and made it a bottle fed baby (real cows milk is always better then the replacer milk).  The ideal situation is to graft one twin on to a different momma, one that has lost her calf. (which I guess really isn't ideal, since that means you lost a calf)  Anyways..... This year we have lost two babies, so we were able to put a twin from each set on a different momma. The first grafting went very smoothly. The new momma accepted her new baby right away. They are doing great. The 2nd grafting is not going as smoothly. We are now into day 6 (or maybe its day 10. These days seem to be running together) and bitch mom still does not like the new baby.  She has "braclets" (they are really called hobbles) on her back legs so she can't kick him. But she sure can head butt him!  (I tried to video it, but, of course, she wouldn't do it while I was recording)  Of the twins, my Farmer picked the bigger, stronger calf to graft on. Good choice. He is more aggressive, so he just keeps going at it no matter how much she butts him.
I have mixed emotions as we are doing this grafting process.  I watched these twins for three weeks. They were always together. Eating, sleeping; they were so cute. Then we split then up. Gave one a new mom that is not nice to him. He went from having a loving, caring momma to having a bitch mom. Poor guy.  His twin and real momma, however, are happy and don't even seem to miss the little guy.

Once the gate was opened, momma and twin leave and don't look back.

Its seems sad and maybe even a bit mean, but in the long run, both calves and cows will be happier and do better. But for now, we still have to work on bitch mom and continue to convince her that she loves her new baby. And she will. LOVE him that is. My Farmer will "convince" her.

My Farmer "convincing" bitch mom and talking on the phone. (Multi tasking)

On the first day of this "convincing" process, my Farmer had to stand inside the corral with a "big stick", mostly to "look intimidating" to bitch mom, while baby ate.  She may have been a tad bit more upset this first day because of her new "bracelets" that my Farmer had just put on her.  (I'm thinking maybe she isn't a leather type girl?  Maybe she wanted studded jewels on her "bracelets".  Who knows.)  Anyways...... She wouldn't let the baby eat unless we were standing in the corral.  (well, I would stand outside, of course)  Baby learned real quick that as soon as his Farmer showed up, it was time to eat.  We don't have to stand inside the corral all the time now.  We just kind of hang around, and when she head butts him, we yell at her and she stops.  Most of the time, anyhow.  All I can say is, she better get a mind adjustment soon though.  This is getting real old, doing it three times a day.
Once we are done with the "convincing" process, and she realizes that he is her calf and she's his loving and caring momma, her whole attitude will change.  Now, she could care less if we are around the baby.  When she decides she Loves him, she will not even let us close to her best ever baby. She will have become his best ever protector! (I'm hoping anyways)  Cuz that's how it is. Ya just gotta get the "convincing" process done. 
And that's what we do.  It's all part of  Livin' the Life, the Farm Life that is......

Baby and Bitch Mom.

UPDATE!!!     My Farmer has taken bitch mom's "bracelets" off!  She still doesn't completely love him yet (shes still in denial), but we're getting close!