Nov. 15, 2006 ~ Strange
It was a freak accident, something you'd never expect. Husband put out hay for the cows in the back pasture, then went to give hay to the heifers in the front pasture. The back pasture cows decided they might be missing out on BETTER hay, so they all came running to the front pasture. And somehow in all that, Star Cow must have fallen, maybe even did a somersault of sorts. She wound up on her side, with her legs uphill, and she was just lying there, still. Husband couldn't get her to stand up. He strained himself trying to get her to at least flip over so she could get her legs beneath her. But she can't.
She can get her front legs tucked under, but she can't move her back legs. Here we go again. Husband got the hot shot, or cattle prod. Yes, I know it's horrible. We only use it in emergencies just like this one, when a cow gets down and can't get back up. It has happened before. That time the cow did eventually get up, with much prodding, but not before she developed gangrene of the udder. She lived, but we couldn't keep her.
Anyway.
Since we rarely use the hot shot, of course the batteries were dead. And of course it requires the exact type of battery that we don't have in the house. Husband just went to the store to get some. He's going to try a few more times to get her up .
We are wondering if she broke her back when she fell.
She has a young calf, less than three months old, and I'm not looking forward to raising a bottle calf. Been there, done that, don't want to do it again. It's not fun. We might send her off to camp early. I don't know. But right now, I'm just hoping Husband makes it back from the store soon so he can try to get Star up again. The baby is with her now. And it's bitter cold outside. 45 degrees F. with wind gusts of 40 mph and up. Not a good night to lose your mom.
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