Circle of Life

We have had a run of bad luck with our dry cows(cows due in the next 2 months) lately. We had one that was sick, the vet couldn't find what was wrong with her. She was dying right in front of us, and the vet was still there. She wasn't due for 4 weeks, and was having a calf that had outstanding bloodlines. We made the decision to have the vet try an emergency c-section in hopes that the calf's lungs would be developed enough to breathe. We had a very poor outcome from that one, the calf, a heifer, had already died inside mom, so we lost both of them.

2 weeks later we had another dry cow come up sick, also with 4 weeks till her due date. Got the vet out right away and were given the diagnosis that she was dying from a long term internal infection, the best we could hope for was to keep her alive long enough for the calf to develop.
Very sad news since we had lost her mother at the age of 13 1/2 this spring. The decision was made to wait as long as possible then give her a shot that would prepare the calf's lungs for birth. The shot would also put her into labor within 36 hours, so we needed to wait as long as possible. A week later the decision was made to give the shot , as she was declining rapidly.
When I went to check on her again, before we'd given the shot, I could tell she didn't have 36 hours. I would have been surprised if she lasted 3. Another call to the vet, only to find out that he was in the Twin Cities, and couldn't come out.
Having seen the last one done, my hubby decided to try it on our own. Our hired hand mercifully ended her life as my husband cut and went in after the calf. He was able to get him out and the little guy gasped for air. I toweled him dry and we put him in our calf warmer for the night.
He did take a couple days to be able to stand, and took a VERY long time to finish his bottle at first. He is the one that I am feeding in the above photo with my niece, Emily, and also in the other photo wearing his jacket.

Hoping to post more often.....