Back Valley Ranch

All natural, free range, antibiotic and hormone free, organic quality, grass fed beef.

Back Valley Ranch

Freckles and her little issue

Birthing season is here and Jerry and I are just waiting for the first little baby to be born. It looks like we’re going to have a domino effect of one after another this year. The girls are all lined up and ready to pop.  Looking at them now I think about last year with one of our old cow Freckles and a little issue that she had every birthing season for the past few years.

Now I work with horses for a living and I’ve heard a lot of things and dressed a lot of wounds. But I’ve never heard the term “prolapsed rectum” before meeting Jerry. For the past few years Freckles has had this issue a couple of weeks before giving birth. What’s a prolapsed rectum you ask? I made the mistake of asking that question myself. It’s were the rectum comes out of the cow and the only way to get it back in is to push it in by hand. Yes, you read that right, by hand! It always stops after she gives birth, but until then, you never know when you’ll have to push a rectum back into a cow during a calf check.

Much to my luck, Jerrys always been around during these times and I’ve only had to watch. I look in amazement how he just casually walks up to Freckles and pushes it back in like this is something everyone does on a day to day basis. Then came the day that I was dreading. Jerry was gone for the afternoon and I was doing a calf check. Much to my dismay, Freckles was showing something out of her back end that wasn’t a baby coming out. Well I couldn’t leave her that way. Not that I’m a Star Trek fan but I’m going to say there quote that I was going to bravely go where no person has gone before (other than Jerry that is). I was reaching for Freckles and just wishing for a divine intervention when I got my wish. Around the corner I saw Jerry driving down the road coming home. Yes! I was saved. I met Jerry on the road and informed him that Freckles had a present for him.

Freckles is no longer with us this year. Jerry and I both miss her, but we definitely don’t miss her little birthing issue every year. Now that birthing season is here again I also hope that no other cow will take on the same issue.