17Mar 08
Nursing a Calf to Health
posted by
One day last month our family went to visit our cousins who work on a farm in Fauquier County, Virginia. They blessed our family with a bountiful dinner of pizza, hot chocolate, hot cider, and much more!
After dinner, they took us to a very large barn where our cousin Kevin works. Earlier that day, before we arrived, a baby bull was born. They thought the mother cow had only one calf but when we went to the barn 
we found a second baby calf. But it had died. The first calf was very cold and weak. It needed milk, but was having trouble sucking. We all helped Kevin move the mother cow 
into an open space and forced her down a long channel to a holding place. The cow was then locked into a position where she 
could not move. Kevin tried to milk the cow so we could feed the baby calf, but she did not have much milk and kept trying to kick Kevin. We would have to make some.
Most of us went with Kevin to 
his shop and made a bottle of milk. Joshua and Daniel stayed behind and kept trying to bottle feed the baby bull with the little bit of milk Kevin had gotten out of the mother cow.
Even though it was very late and cold, everyone kept good attitudes, prayed, and helped wherever they could. Kevin brought the new bottle of milk to the baby bull. It 
started to suck on the bottle. We were so excited. God saved the little calf.
Markie, you captured the exciting evening very well! Kevin displayed a wonderful example of our Good Shepherd. One event of the evening that stands out to me was when Kevin had to force the little bull to stand and drink when he wanted to lie down and rest. Kevin knew what was required if the calf was to survive. Often we don’t fully understand why the Lord sends trials; however, we can trust that He will only send what is necessary to sustain.
What a great experience of life on the farm. Praise the Lord the calf lived!
That was a special night! Thank you Markie for the post! There is so much you can learn on a farm and one of the biggest things is walking through life and death situations. It was sad to see the one calf that was dead but what a blessing to see that the other lived!
It is good to walk through those situations and learn how to handle death and sickness in animals. What a blessing it was to help Kevin care for the calf and learn what to do in times of danger!