All posts,  The Bush

Not so bouncy, not so fun

I took some photos yesterday for Dash and Violet – some ‘Show and Tell’ pics of a calf without a Mama who was brought home two days ago by our next-door neighbour and sometimes-helper Lila.
twin_0079
It’s only a wee baby heifer… and (as usual) my heart sinks a little when I get one of these poddies in.  I hate not having a win (where ‘win’ equals ‘living’ and ‘lose’ equals ‘death‘).  It’s rare we get orphans here, and to have two poddies in a couple of weeks is a bit much.  The first arrival is doing well and frolicking around the paddock with her adoptive mother.  This one is tiny, possibly a twin.  And very dehydrated.

But she seemed to want to try for us, and Lila was so happy to have picked her up fom where she was hidden in the long grass.  She named her “Lottie” for being so lucky (like the Lotto).

So we did the Bay Lulic thing, we did the bottle-feeding thing, we did the penicillin thing (for possible pneumonia) and even the adding an egg to the formula thing to boost strength.

I even tweeted about her progess:
calf tweet1

A fair question, no?

calf tweet2

Oh so optimistic

I checked her last night (she was back in the laundry again where I thought she might be warmer and less vulnerable) and was a bit disturbed by her rattly breathing…

And this morning, she seemed to stop trying…

calf tweet3

despite concerned twitter friends checking in on her progress…

calf tweet5

For the record, she is still breathing and lifting her head up.  I am doing the washing around her.  But it’s with a pessimistic attitude and a heavy heart.

This one needs a miracle...

As I have already said/tweeted:

calf tweet4

UPDATE:

RIP Little Lottie.

(There is nothing like having to hide a carcass just before your kids get home from school.  Talk about keeping it real…)

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