02/15/2026
We’ve got to experience something over the past couple of days that was truly a bag full of emotions and feelings. Our bag contained anger, sadness, helplessness, hope, joy, excitement, happiness, thankfulness, care, feelings of grace, grit, peace, amazement, and most of all, LOVE, LOTS of LOVE!!
Thursday evening Josh and I had to pull a calf, as he was a BIG BOY, to say the least. We were in great hopes of it being still alive but knowing there was next to minimal to no response from the calf, he had died. When he came out, we both instantly felt full of anger, rage, and broken hearted as the calf was exactly what we were thinking and the opposite of what we were hoping, as there was no response when I cleaned the ‘yuck’ out of his throat and nose and setting him in the recovery position. I knew mama had done all she could do and Josh was in and out of the barn throughout the day and called as soon as she started to calve. I, personally, couldn’t accept losing another calf and the God answered our prayers, as the calf took a breath and bobbed his head. We worked on getting him cleaned off as it was cold and when mama came around, she cleaned him up too. All of the sudden the calf wasn’t responding and began to posture and his body temp was low, so off to grandma’s he went to get dry and warm.
That evening once he was warm we tried to Grandma E’s thin to stand and there was nothing, no attempt, no muscle action, no reflexes….nothing. We propped him up and gave him a bottle in which he drank rather quickly. He then was moved to our house where he then got to sleep in the luxury dog bed, in which he became quite found of, along with the red blanket. Josh and I stayed with him throughout the night to make sure he was fed and comfortable, yet still was not standing.
Friday morning came and there was still no change from the previous night, in fact he had gone backwards. He wasn’t able to drink from a bottle, as his suckle reflux was gone, so he was tube fed.
I contacted Greener Pastures Veterinary Service and took him over. The vet stated she wasn’t sure what was going on, as it could be a multitude of things ranging from swelling on the brain and spine to a vitamin deficiency to an infection, but she was giving him a very guarded prognosis. She gave him a broad spectrum antibiotic, anti inflammatory medication, and vitamins e & selenium. I brought him back him and laid him in the dog bed and let him sleep.
Around 7:30pm Friday night, after coming home from evening chores, I noticed his ears were up. When I walked in the room, his eyes were full of life like I’d never seen before, and his head was up….and he held it up for longer than 3 minutes, which was the max time before. Best of all, he was HUNGRY! I mixed him up a bottle and when feeding him, I pulled it away a little and he tried to get up…..I was speechless and so very happy! He then stood up and began to walk, wobbly and clumsy, like a new born calf should be walking.
This whole time mama kept moo’ing and lookin’ for her baby, which was quite impressive for a young, first calf heifer! She never gave up looking and every time I’d pull up to the barn, she’d be looking for him to come out of my car.
Yesterday morning, he was finally strong enough to go to his mama. She was one happy mama when she saw him. Then after checking him out, she’d apparently felt he wasn’t hers so ignored him. We tried a technique I had read about in one of my classes that helps when trying to put an orphan calf on a cow who lost her calf. At this point, we tried everything else, and we are lucky to report that it WORKED!!
It took working with mama and baby off and on throughout the day, but they became reacquainted and now no one goes near her baby unless she approves.
I have never felt for relieved, happy, and love all at one time when it comes to the cows.
Kaylee decided to name him Zuma, off the water-rescue pup on Paw Patrol and also because it means strength, “abundance” (of love and prayers he’s received) and symbolizes peace and harmony.
So our Valentine’s Day was bursting with LOVE yesterday! ❤️
We hope you all had a Happy Valentine’s Day and enjoy checking out the pictures of Zuma. 🖤💙🖤💙
