As some of you may know, our first little calf (Sam 4...Sammy Sirloin) did not make it. I am sure that he had the scours, and I am very sure that he was already sick when we got him. We had a terrible time trying to get him to eat, and in the end his little body just wasn't strong enough. He died on Monday night in John's arms while he was trying to feed him. I have to honestly say that I never got attached to him - probably because deep down I wasn't really sure he was going to make it. David took it pretty hard though.
I wasn't really sure that I wanted to bother with another one, but John convinced me that we should try again. We were planning to get one this weekend, but Duffy called last night to tell us he had a replacement for little Robbie. He arrived last night just before we were leaving to go to basketball practice. Right away we could tell that he was a lot stronger.
So, at 5:00 this morning - long before the sun came up, little Sam 5 started to moo. Oh, btw, this cow's tag also says "Sam 5"! Anyway, he mooed and mooed and mooed. I finally got up and started my morning routine of coffee, prayer and Bible study. I was determined not to give in that early lest we start a routine that we could never break. I woke David up around 7:00 and told him we were going to have to feed the calves a little early because poor Sam 5 was about to moo himself silly. I figured this was going to be a walk in the park. He is so hungry, we will never have trouble getting him to take the bottle. Boy was I wrong!!!
We tried everything. We chased him around, held him down, pried open his mouth, you name it. That calf was not having any part of that bottle! Finally I sent David in to get Steven about 7:45. (I had originally told him he needed to be ready to feed animals by 8 am.) The 3 of us all struggled to get that calf to take the bottle. One of us was holding him down, one holding his mouth open, and the other one squirting the milk into his mouth. Still no use. He wanted no part of that bottle. In the meantime, he is still mooing his head off because he is hungry. I was beginning to get frustrated! I was ready to shove him in the back of my minivan and take his little butt back to the dairy farm. I even nicknamed him "Stupid A-- Moron" aka SAM. I think you get the idea. Then I called Duffy about 8:30 to see if he had any advice. He said try giving it to him in a bucket. We tried that too. No deal!
By that time it was getting late, and we had to get the other animals fed. I fed his bottle of milk to the pigs who lapped it up in about 15 seconds. Then I decided to milk Esther and try again with a fresh bottle of warm milk right from the cow. I figured if he didn't drink that, then I would surrender. It is just not in my nature to give up though. So I called the local feed store to see if they had any advice. They said to force feed him. (We kind of already tried that, I thought!) They said to put the nipple in his mouth and hold his mouth closed until he started to suck. Well, low and behold, it worked!! By 9:30 he finally had a full belly and stopped mooing. Hallelujah!!
I figure somewhere in this story there is a lesson. Persistance? Patience? I am not sure. I do know that my prayer time this morning was spent praising God and thanking Him for all our wonderful blessings. Despite how difficult it may be at times, I am extremely grateful for the life I have. I truly wouldn't trade it for anything. God is good - all the time!
Oh, one more thing....Sam 5 will from now on be called "Sam I Am." That is a name I had been thinking about for a while when we had the other calf because the two of them reminded me of Dr. Suess. Today's experience with the bottle was very much like the story, "Green Eggs and Ham." "I do not like them Sam I Am!" ..... "I will not drink it from a bottle, I will not drink it from a bucket. I will not drink it with the dogs. I will not drink it with the hogs..." (I could go on and on, but it is now11:30, and we have not started school yet. It is going to be another one of those days...or what I am learning is just a typical day on a very busy farm.)
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