Kelsey

My farm buddy got a new dog last week.  She has been agonizing over whether or not to get a new puppy for months now.  She really needs a good stock dog on the farm and Scout (Tanner's brother) is getting up there in age.  They will be 10 this Fall and while I can hardly bear to admit it, they are slowing down a lot.  Farm Buddy has been worried about how Scout would handle having competition from a young puppy and for months, I have been hearing about the pros and cons of getting a puppy.  I think she has probably changed her mind at least a hundred times.  Both of our dogs are used to being the center of the universe and a new puppy can be very hard for an older dog to deal with.  Who can possibly resist a new puppy after all.  I know Tanner would have a very hard time if I decided to get a puppy, he is already terribly jealous of Emma.  A puppy would ruin his world.

A few weeks ago, out of the blue, Farm Buddy announced that she was thinking about getting an adult dog that she had seen at the breeders home and had been offered to her.  I was really surprised by this as Farm Buddy initially rejected this idea out of hand and only wanted a puppy.  I didn't think it was a bad idea, but I am still surprised by it.  The plan was for the dog to come and stay for a two week trial period.  Yeah right.  As if she'd ever leave after coming to this farm:)  This little dog would have had to cause massive upheaval to get sent back.  She has instead  slipped into farm life with ease and exuberance.  Kelsey is a well trained working dog who is sweet, extremely responsive and well mannered.  She was raised as a trial dog and she is finding farm life to be wonderful fun.  She is getting along well with both Scout and Tanner (as long as I don't spend too much time with her). 

Kelsey is a small dog, only very lightly tethered to the Earth by gravity.  The epitome of Border Collie, she is lively, high strung, intelligent, quick and obsessive.  She was initially rather confused by the concept of walking in the woods.   She has spent most of her life in open fields, working sheep or playing fetch.   The boys are trying to show her the ropes, but it may take her a while to catch onto the idea that sometimes we go out just or fun.  It's a new concept for her...

"Where are the sheep?"

"I don't think there are any sheep out here in the woods..."

"Are you sure we're supposed to be out here, I don't think I can make those trees move.  I'll be happy to try though...

"Fields are good, sheep live in fields...

 
"but I still don't see any sheep...

"Are you sure you have sheep somewhere?...

Welcome to the farm Kelsey!

Happy Mothers Day

The first lambs have begun arriving, just in time for Mothers Day.  A nice set of twin rams showed up a few days ago, quietly and easily.  Just the way we like it.

Hello World!

 

 

Happy Mother's Day!

PS - Buff is doing very well today.  So far, she doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects from her trauma yesterday.  She did not adopt the calf we found for her.  That baby was already two weeks old and had never nursed off a mom.  Like most dairy calves, she had been taught to drink from a bucket almost as soon as she was born.  She had no clue how to nurse and Buff wasn't fooled into trying to teach her.  If we had been able to find a newborn on such short notice, it might have worked better.  However, Buff is a wise, old cow and she seemed to know and accept that her baby is gone.  As long as no infection gets a hold, I think Buff will be just fine.  She will return to her herd in a few days and resume her position of matriarch and babysitter. 

Frustrations, Heartaches and Small Triumphs

I got one of those calls early this afternoon.  You know the kind..."I'm having big trouble and I need help, can you come?"...One of our oldest and best mom-cows, Buff, was having trouble calving over at my friend's farm.  We got this particular cow some years ago when she was already 5-6 years old.  She produces beautiful babies and is very much the herd matriarch.  She is the self-designated babysitter and protector for all the calves every year.  She has always calved with no trouble and no fuss.  Until today.  Buff's one major flaw is that she cannot be handled.  She has lived her whole life with one rule that says, "You don't mess with me, I won't mess with you.  If you do mess with me, I will kill you."  Buff is 1800 pounds of Hereford/Charolais who makes her own rules.  Buff is formidable...

WARNING: this next part does get a bit graphic, there is no help for it.  There are no more pictures, but this does get a bit tough.  Please feel free to bailout now. 

While it was clear that she had been trying to have this calf for a while and it was obvious that the calf was already lost, Buff was not in a great deal of distress.  It may sound mean, but it would have been easier if she had been.  Buff was on her feet, completely mobile and perfectly willing to defend herself from would-be helpers in spite of the two small feet protruding several inches from her backside .  Our only option was to try to sedate her so we could pull the calf.   We were able to get some Rompum (a sedative) from a nearby horse farm, the challenge was getting it into her. 

One of the most profoundly frustrating aspects of this whole endeavor was that we could not get one single vet to come out and help.  I maintain client relationships with 3 separate vet clinics just so they will come out when I need them.  Taking this animal to Cornell was not an option.  I am not sure how many vets we talked to today, but NONE of them would come out.  This is a problem that has been getting steadily worse in this area for some time.  The reasons were..."you aren't an established client, we don't work on cows, it's too far away, it's Friday afternoon, the business day is nearly over"  Business day, can you believe it, BUSINESS day!!?....Haven't any of these people read James Harriott?  Why the hell did they become large animal vets if they won't treat large animals?  Yes, cows can be hard to deal with.  Yes, farms are scattered across a wide area and require travel time to reach them.  Yes, animals have problems at inconvenient times when everybody would rather be doing something else.   YES, dealing with all of this is part of the job!!!

Sorry, I will quit ranting now.  I just couldn't quite help myself.

Anyway, late this afternoon, Buff finally laid down and we were able to come up behind her and get a shot of rompum into her.  Fifteen minutes later we finally got our hands on those protruding legs.  The calf was backwards, one of the worst possible Mal-presentations.  The calves almost never survive this as they suffocate almost as soon as the birth begins.  Unless someone is on hand to perform an immediate C-section, the calf cannot survive.  We were well beyond that and our only concern was trying to save Buff.  That calf was more stuck then anything I have ever seen.  There were three strong people there pulling for all we were worth and we couldn't budge that calf. We hated doing it, but finally had to resort to a come-along.  It still took all our strength AND the come-along, but eventually, we got that calf out.  

We gave Buff a massive dose of antibiotics and got her propped up on some hay bales.  I suggested that we try to get a calf from the dairy farm down the road so that when Buff finally woke up she would find a new calf beside her rather than a lonely, empty barn....I think it worked, I got an update at about 11:00, Buff was on her feet, still groggy, but showing signs of interest in the calf.  We were worried that she might have nerve damage, that she might never get up, but Buff is one tough cow.  She is on her feet and so far doing well.  We lost a calf today, but I think we saved a cow.  Sometimes that is as good as it gets.

Days like this are why I worry so much about Emma.  Because it is possible to do everything right and still have things go wrong.  I know I worry too much, but sometimes I'm right and that scares me more than anything 

Connectivity

I had a nice phone call this morning from Tessa's original breeder/owner.  She tracked me down through the breed registry just to see how Tessa is doing and where she is.  I have done this sort of thing in the past, but I have never before had anyone track me down.  I appreciate a breeder who cares enough to want to know where her babies end up and how they are being cared for. 

Emma has been shedding profusely, but not fast enough to suit her.  She is itchy and since the weather has warmed up, she is often too hot even though it hasn't gotten above 70 yet.  I have been trying to help this along and had been seriously thinking about shaving her.  However, today's cold, miserable, raininess is why I haven't done it.  She does not like the shedding blade much and her coat was still quite thick.  Yesterday, I finally remembered a blog post from the7msn ranch about using a Furminator on her donkey Lucy.  I happen to own one of these gadgets which I use on Tanner....

It works GREAT on donkeys.  The last two days, I have pulled a whole bucket full of hair off of Emma and she loves it.  She would happily stand all day for more Furminating.  She has lost all of her coarse outer coat and what is left is the soft, downy fuzz of the undercoat.  It is hard to describe just how soft and silky she is.  I hope all of you get at least one chance to hug a freshly Furminated donkey:)  Thanks to a fellow blogger for sharing this useful bit of trivia.

I also want to thank everyone for your comments, well wishes and advice regarding Emma and her baby.  I don't always have time to respond, but I read and appreciate all of them.  Mel was particularly helpful to me today in providing some reassurance that donkey babies do indeed flip-flop quite a bit before being born.  I should have known that a donkey baby would already be thinking outside the box. 

I had been thinking about trying to set up a webcam to monitor Emma when I have to be at work, but  I don't know anything about the subject.  DonkeyBum suggested the same thing and was kind enough to share some very helpful info.  Unfortunately, after reading everything, I don't think it will work here.  My Internet connection is slow and cell phones don't work here.  If anyone else has any ideas I'd be glad to hear about it.  Just keep in mind that my tech skills are pretty limited and so is my connectivity out here in the boondocks:). 

Mixed Signals

So, here is a question for any of you who breed donkeys (Mel!?)...about 3 weeks ago now, I thought Emma was going to have a baby at any moment.  The reason that I thought this (despite that fact that her udder had not gotten anywhere near as big as I though it should) is that the baby dropped.  You know what I mean right?  The baby moves into position and all of a sudden the belly goes from being wide as a house to narrow and pointy.  Usually, this happens when birth is, at most, a couple of days away.  I double checked my old text books and my newer donkey books and they all agree about how these things should proceed...

Emma doesn't seem to agree because the baby dropped, but now, Emma is getting wider again.  It's like the baby decided to roll over.  I have never seen this happen before.  I checked with the vet, who said "maybe it's a donkey thing".  (Can you tell that there aren't too many vets with donkey experience around here?)  Anyway, IS this a donkey thing?  Am I being paranoid?

I will freely admit that I have absolutely no objectivity where Emma is concerned.  Actually, I find it hard to be objective about all of my animals.  This is why doctors are not supposed to treat members of their own family.  However, my riding buddy also saw Emma during this time and she agrees, the baby dropped.  I am not making this up.  I also know that the muscles and ligaments in her pelvis are like mush and have been for at least the last 4 weeks.  I think you can see it in these photos...

Compare this shot I took on Easter...

 

To one I took this afternoon... 

Two weeks ago, you couldn't see the belly at all from this view.  And no, I didn't get any decent pictures, I didn't think I would need them.  I didn't think I would see the belly popping out the sides like this again... 

Her udder has continued to get larger, but she still has no milk.  I guess that is what we are waiting for.  Emma is doing well, she is happy and healthy, although bothered by the warmer temps.  I am hoping that her temperature regulation will work better after the baby is born and she matures more. 

So, does anyone have anything to tell me about donkey babies doing flip-flops before they make an appearance in the world?

Happy World Donkey Day!

Give us a kiss, it's Donkey Day!

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