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Possibly the strangest Christmas Eve yet as we watch to see if a cow will live.

Freejack2

Freejack2

Diamond Member
I think this qualifies as the most interesting Christmas eve for me to date.
My in-law sister and brothers decided to get my father in-law a dvd player for Christmas. So we go into town to go to Walmart. On the way there my wife slows down for a stop sign and the minivan slides, if it had slid left we'd be in a ditch. Luckily she corrected it enough so we ended up sliding into a field. We fared better than the 20 or so other cars that went off the road on the way there. Got there and got the last Apex dvd player on the shelf. Made it home safe only to have my father in-law run in an hour later with a nearly frozen to death calf. He put the calf in the tub with some hot water to warm it up. After that we dried it off with towels and then started using hair dryers to dry it off and keep it warm. My father in-law gave it a big bottle of I think milk and a couple of eggs in it. The calf didn't drink very much of it. Then he gave it shot for pneumonia. The calf didn't even feel it which isn't too good. After the cow got mostly dry they set it up downstairs on a heat lamp and have been using a hair dryer to help keep it warm. It's been making noises and started moving a little bit but it's head keeps rolling back. My father in-law doesn't give it good odds of living. Personally I think it'd make a good christmas if it lives but even as I type this it's seizing so it looks like it's gonna die. Guess no christmas miracle tonight. 🙁 I can hope though. It's not dead yet.

Just thought I'd share my story. Anyone else have any interesting christmas stories?
 
My Christmas is boring but your calf has my most sincere hope of living. If it lives it will be your best Christmas ever, I'm sure.

EDIT: just read the last line. Well, you should sleep well knowing that the calf's last moments were in a warm room with people who cared about it, instead of freezing to death outside. That would make me somewhat less sad.
 
It may not have been seizing. It seems to have calmed down and is lying there. Still don't know if it'll live. It's probably nothing new for my wife but I grew up in cities and suburbs so it's kind of new for me. I do hope it lives though. I like cows.

Edit: Notfred, my in-laws do. We're visiting for Christmas.
 
My father in-law owns a farm. They have a small herd of cows. It's a male and not a dairy cow or anything. From what I understand, he was up by the cows and saw the calf lying there. The cow is still alive. I'm hoping he'll be a little Christmas miracle.
 
From what I remeber the old farmers telling me, bringing it inside does more to harm it than good. The radical change in temp and stress will kill it faster.
 
It depends on its current vital statistics... many times the radical heat change will hurt them, but with calves, it sometimes does a world of good if they are not in good shape. I had a "christmas calf" born two years ago on christmas eve. The cow (the calf's mom) died while giving birth, and we would up placing the calf in the kitchen, wrapped in blankets, with space heaters running, and it survived quite nicely.

Andrew
 
Well it's 1:25 in the morning here. I'm no expert on cows but it seems to be breathing a little bit easier and it's moving it's limbs a little bit. Don't know if that means anything but one can hope. As for bringing the calf inside... If he hadn't the calf would be dead by now. At least now it has some chance of living.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
 
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