Post by Jessika on Oct 31, 2005 8:37:57 GMT -5
Friday afternoon my 3 kids and I decided to go see my parents new calf. My dad has a herd of 50 Highland cattle.We looked all over the pasture and couldn,t see it. These cows are very skittish and are a mix of cows,heifers, bulls, and calves of various ages and sizes so you definitely don't go in the fence with them with 3 little kids in tow! Then I saw the mama and her udder was huge and red and painful looking. I started to worry the calf had died as she obviously hadn,t been nursed for a little while. I have no idea why I did this, call it mothers intuition, but I climbed a gate into an area that is not a part of the pasture,I repeat, the cows do not have access to this area, as I started walking I saw a piece of rotted plywood with a hole through it, my heart lurched, I peered through and screamed! There was this calf at the bottom of a well fighting to keep its nose above water, you could tell it was about beat and there was'nt much time. I ran up to there house, no one was there,doors locked, so the kids and I drove a few miles down the road to where hubby works( which is also my dads business) dad was'nt there, I screamed to my husband there was a calf in a well drowning,(in front of customers who must have thought I was a madwoman) we sped back to the well, the calf was still alive I held its nose above water with a pitchfork extended fully down the well hubby ran to get some rope or a chain , we still couldn't get a hold of her I went to the barn to look for something, didn't know what, then spotted a ladder. We put the ladder down the well it was a tight fit, hubby climbed down put a chain around its head as thats all we could reach. Then we quickly pulled it out. My daughter says "It's a heifer, I see teats" . We immediately started warming her up with straw trying to dry her off. My dad was contacted and arrived on the scene. We put her in the shed with lots of straw and remarkably she really started coming around. We left the door open so mom could come and see her. Sometime during the night mom reclaimed her baby and the are happily out in the pasture with the rest of the herd again. Amazing! She had worn her hooves down and the hair off her legs trying to climb the cement sides of the well. I can't believe her incredible will to live as we estimate she fell through the night before, so she was in there about 16 hours maybe which would explain her momms udder. It's great when you get a happy ending!
Jessika
Jessika