A Day of Confusion.....with Lots of Experts.

Today was a confusing day.  That's what my Farmer said when we got to the house this evening.  Let me explain.  During morning check on the cows, my Farmer found three new baby calves.  Two with their momma's and one all alone.  After looking around and not finding any cow looking for a calf, my Farmer assumed that one of the cows had had twins and she claimed one and not the other.  Not knowing which cow it belonged to, but knowing that neither cow could raise two calves anyways, he brought the lone calf to the corral figuring this one would have to be raised on a bottle. Really didn't want another bottle baby, but that's how it goes. First step was to give the calf some colostrum, which is vital to a new calf.  This is where the confusion started.  He would not eat.  Since he would not suck the bottle, my Farmer had the feeling that the calf had already eaten. (We have found that new born calves will not suck on the bottle if they have already eaten from their momma's)  At lunch we were discussing the situation and we decided it might be a good idea to check the herd again to make sure he didn't just overlook the momma.   When my Farmer got out to the herd, sure enough, he found a cow that was looking for a calf.  Yay!!  He went back and got to calf, took it out to the momma.  She sniffed it, then walked away.  Dang it!  Now my Farmer was thinking he confused the cow by taking her calf so he separated them from the rest of the herd, thinking that maybe it would help if they were by themselves.  Once in a different pasture, just the two of them, she once again sniffed it, even kind of acted interested, then walked off.  More confusion.  The pasture this cow was now in has lush green grass, which the other place did not, so all she was interested in was eating.  Now my Farmer started thinking that this cow was just starting to calve and was just looking for a calf, but had not calved.  Which sometimes they will do this.  This is where I entered the picture, adding to the confusion as best I could.  I had been fixing fence, which I was on my third day of doing all by myself, which I am not very good at, which I was getting very tired of doing, which is why I decided to quit early, knowing my Farmer needed my expertise.  Ha!  I was excited when I drove up and seen that he had found the momma!  Then he tells me he thinks its not the momma.  I say, being the expert that I am,  I think her bag has been sucked on and she doesn't look fat enough to still have a calf in her, so I think its hers.  My Farmer says, being the expert that he is, it is not hers.  However, with my little input, it makes him question himself.  Yep, that's my job.  More confusion.  We decided to run her to the corral and help her to love her calf, cuz we are all confused, remember!  Once there my Farmer wonders if we should go ahead and run her in the chute and check to see if she has a calf in her.  Wow, now that is an idea!  I second that.  That's what we do.  And guess what, we helped her find her calf.  In the birthing canal!  Yep, she was calving!   Believe me, she had not been showing any signs of being in labor, except for the looking for a calf part, (and chasing after the dog).  We went ahead and helped her calve....and life is now good for them.  She found her calf.  The other little critter, well she is my responsibility now.  And getting her to suck on a bottle....yea, I was able to do that.  You just have to have a little motherly experience and a lot of patience.  And I am an expert on that.   That's livin' the life......The Farm Life that is......