From High Heels to Muck Boots

Today was a day of both highs and lows.  My husband calls it "evening out in life."  I personally don't like it.  My morning high came with a meeting I had with a restaurant owner/chef in Edmonton.  It was my very first meeting with a chef and I was extremely nervous.  I have no clue about culinary terms; I use Pinterest to come up with my nightly supper ideas, and I am going to talk to a chef?!  So off I went (in my much loved high heeled brown knee high boots) to Edmonton.  I had nothing to worry about and the chef I met with was very friendly and very willing to explain to me what he is looking for in terms I could understand.  For some reason, I think all chefs are like Gordon Ramsey of "Hell's Kitchen" or the Muppets Swedish Chef "Borg, borg, borg", but they aren't.  So, our meat is going to be featured in a downtown restaurant in Edmonton...stay tuned...!
After my meeting, I met a friend for lunch, ran some errands while I was in the city and just enjoyed my accomplishment, when my husband phoned (did I mention he so graciously was watching our 1 year old daughter while I had my meeting.  BEST DAD EVER!).  A heifer was calving and the calf had it's head and one leg out.  I hurried out of the city and drove as fast as the law will allow, as I didn't want to chance a speeding ticket.  I rushed home to find my husband and father-in-law (who helps us out on the farm) standing next to the trucks by the cattle chute.  They tried to pull the calf, but it would not come, so they called the vet to come assist. By this time, we already knew the calf was dead, but we were trying to save the heifer.  I ran in the house to change into my farm clothes and muck boots, and get some hot water ready for when the vet came.  The vet came out and was able to get the calf out, it was quite the procedure, but we were able to save the heifer.
In life, we win some and we lose some.  I did both in one day!  But we keep plunking away, and hope for the best tomorrow.  Although, now I feel like I'm expecting the worse, especially with our heifers!

The High Heels and the Muck Boots (yes, I did wear my heeled boots out there initially, hence the mud)

It's Calving Time

Calving time is one of my favourite times of the year. I enjoy going out to the cows and seeing what "surprises" are awaiting; and what the calf looks like (we use a mix of Red/Black Angus & Hereford bulls so sometimes the calf colour surprises me!). It never fails to amaze me how strong and tough those little critters are and sometimes, unfortunately, aren't.

Last night was one of those nights. While my husband and son were feeding in the tractor, the baby and I went walking around the pasture checking on the cows. I noticed one (number 97) not coming for feed and saw the tell-tale sign of after-birth hanging behind her. I walked over and sure enough, 97 had calved, IN.THE.MUD!! She had him licked off as much as she could but he wasn't getting up.

Well, we did what any rancher or farmer would do and we brought the new calf in the house to dry him off, warm him up (did I mention it was -5C with the temp dropping through the night). and gave him a shot of Selenium & Vitamin E. He was still cold, so we put him in the bathtub with some warm water. Boy, did he begin to protest then & cry for his mom (all while our 2 kids were sleeping just a few feet away). We tried to give him a bottle of colostrum while we were drying him off the second time, and he wouldn't suck so we got out the esophageal tube and administered the colostrum that way. By this time we had spent about 5 hours with him and it was now 1 am. Both my husband and I were tired and out of ideas to help this little one. So, I got the heat lamp, some blankets and we made him as comfortable as possible and went to bed ourselves and hoped for the best in the morning.

Unfortunately 97's little one didn't make it, but we tried. As farmers and ranchers, we have to remember that we are working with nature, some things are just out of our control. When the sun rises, it's a new day, and we have over 70 cows still to calve!!