September 19, 2010 – Sunday Morning
Happy Birthday Roy
We need to start with a little background. Daisy, the cat, that was so mean that no one wanted her, came to the farm just a short week ago. She is adjusting well, only hissing occasionally when the other 6 cats approach her. She will eat in close proximity of the other cats. After some time watching the chickens move near her bowl, she decided to let them eat if they wanted without  hissing at them. She is fitting in nicely to the barn and often joins me in the gardens keeping me company while I pull weeds. She knows her name and comes when I call her. She is about 2 pounds lighter, which also indicates that she is becoming healthier. She allows the Farmstay guest to pet her. However, she still keeps her distance from Babe, our yellow Lab.
On Friday morning we had our first calf of the season. It was a stressful few hours during the process. Brandon was in the vineyard, and came running to the front field, saying it’s time to have a baby. As we approached the field, the calf dropped out. The mom was making a huge, deep, mooing sound. She was licking and pushing the calf which is needed to start the process of connecting, however, it was rather aggressive. Will, our neighbor, rode by and stopped to watch and we chatted on the phone he agreed it looked like the Mom was being aggressive. The Mom managed to head butt the calf under the electric fence which happened to be an answer to our prayers. We continued to watch from a safe distance behind the 5 foot wooden fence next to our pool. We turned off the electric fence when the deliver started, so neither was in danger of getting shocked, however, Mom did not know that. She was frantic. So Brandon and I pushed the calf under the fence. WOW, the Mom got mad and started head butting the calf. We decided to get the buggie and take the baby to the barn and let Roy deal with the Crazy Mom when he gets home.
It’s Sunday morning, Roy’s Birthday, all is fine in the barn with the Mom and the baby. I take one of the B&B guest out to the barn to see the new baby, as we have had lots of visitors by now stopping in the barn to see the first baby of the season and Mom is handling everything very well, except she head butted out the new white rooster. When we get to the barn, no calf. I yell to the house, “ Roy, the calf is missing.” He comes out, we find the calf, back behind a hay bale, he tags it, I keep the Mom distracted with some feed, and the B&B Guest is watching. All seems fine, just fine. Until Roy can’t get the calf in the gate, because I have the radio cord plug wrapped around the pole, he yells a tad, I suggest that the guest get to a safe place, this Mom can get CRAZY. She asks, what is Crazy? And just then it happened……. Roy was trying to push the calf through the gate to the Mom, and she goes Crazy. We realize that Daisy, the hissing cat, is taking on the Crazed Mom. Daisy is hissing at the Mom, and she looks like the size of a dog. The Mom was going for Daisy and the baby just happens to be in the way. Roy yells get that stupid cat out of here I grabbed Daisy, the guest and we got out of the barn.
The calf was finally reunited with her Mom, and Mom was not crazy, she was just protective. Daisy is the Queen of Cats now. Any cat that takes on a hysterical Mom Cow, deserves a spot in our barn!
Happy Birthday Roy! This is your life and we all love you for letting us in.

Shaky Betty
May 15, 2010
Well, I guess I can finally write about my Shaky Betty. I delayed writing about her because I was fearful of the outcome. The past few days the signs are there, she will survive. Buddy, Betty’s original owner, stopped by to pick up the bull yesterday, and he took a few minutes to visit to take a look at Shaky Betty and said, “Wow, she looks great.” He reassured me that he was right and she was going to outgrow it! She made page A10 of the Kent County News this week as one of my favorite pets. And tonight, it was later than usually when I escorted her from her baby pasture to her home in “my barn” the one with the red doors, when I hugged her and stood back to take a look at her– it was then that I realized the pen I had created for her 3 months ago was feeling a little small. She was going to make it.

So the story starts 3 months ago, with a phone call from Buddy asking for Roy. I was on the other line with my son in California who was at a car dealership trying to buy a car. So needless to say, I was a tad stressed, when I answered, Buddy told me he needed something however, he could only speak to Roy. I demanded he just tell me what it was, and reluctantly he said he had another calf.

Now you have to know that I have had had several of Buddy’s calves, come to Crow Farm to be cared for by me. First there was, Bert and Ernie. They were about 3 months old. We borrow a bull from the farm where Buddy works each fall and return it late spring. Roy wanted me to ride with him while we took the bull back to Buddy’s farm a few miles away. When I got out of the truck he said, just put the bull in with Bert and Ernie. I had to know more about Bert and Ernie. Buddy proceeded to tell me their mothers rejected them and he has been bucket feeding them and really needed a good home for them. My eyes lit up and Roy’s face said NO! I had to have them; I don’t care how much they cost. It is Bert and Ernie. So a few days later after I got a pen all set for them, they came to be Crow Farm Steers. Bert was a tad skittish, and Ernie, the white faced Angus was as gentle as a dog.

Then a few weeks later, Roy got another call from Buddy. I said to tell him Bert and Ernie are now on the baby pasture, and doing fine! Then I could tell by the look on Roy’s face that the call was not about Bert and Ernie. He hung up the cell phone and I begged him to tell me what was up, and he said we had to get in straw and after straw; maybe we might go get a new-born calf. I was exhausted after putting the straw into the loft, but had enough energy to try to figure out a way to get the new calf.

Roy got out the old calf cart that his boys used for 4H. The wheels were flat, the latch was rusted shut, and had to be beaten open then Roy made a new latch. We put the funny looking contraption into the back of his truck and we were off to get the new calf. It was chilly that day, I remember that very well. When we got there, we looked at the new born that had been rejected by his mom. I couldn’t see what was wrong, he was just tiny. We loaded him into the calf cart, and I started to hop in the back, and Roy said get in the front. When we got to the end of the farm lane, I begged to get into the back, and he said okay. Well, like I said it was chilly. I held him and told him I was his new mommy, and that I would take care of him. And he became my Big Bird! He was tucked safely in my barn, a small spot just cozy for him.

Some time passed and Buddy called me to say he had another refugee, called Poopy, and wondering if I could help with him. Of course I could. So one day, Poopy showed up in the barn yard, I had a pen made for him and within a few hours he was out and into the pasture with all the other cattle. Buddy was right again, he just does what he wants, but he is a good guy.
So, back to the night with Buddy was on one line, and my son in California on the other phone, I couldn’t talk with both of them at the same time, so I quickly got Buddy off the line. I told him that I was in charge and could make decisions regarding the calves, since I have to take care of them, and I would discuss it with Roy in the morning and we would come over to take a look at his calf. As I tried to hang up I heard him say, make sure Roy sees her because she is really different, she is a little shaky. So I briefly discussed with Roy the possibility of getting a new calf. He said it was my decision, however, he strongly suggested that in light of all the work with the new Bed and Breakfast that I consider saying no.

So I took Brandon, my son, the Vineyard Manager, with me to take a look at the calf, assess the health of the calf and make a decision. We agreed that we would look, assess, move to a corner and huddle and make a decision. As we pulled up, I said it would be so cool if she was a Red Angus. Roy would have a fit, only Black Angus was to be in his fields. So the decision would be easy, take her! As we laughed, Buddy approached and showed us to Betty. Well, indeed she was a little unsteady. He thought polio, but the vet did not think so. He had been giving her shots of vitamin B, and thought she just might grow out of it.

Wow, it looked pretty bad. Could I do it, could I take care of a disabled calf? What would the outcome be? So Brandon and I huddled. We decided we would take her in a few days. Roy and I would pick her up on Sunday and bring her to the farm, and by the time she arrived we would figure out where to put her. As we drove away, we started deciding on names. Brandon thought Ali, and I thought we should start naming our calves after dead relatives. Like my mother, Betty, after all she could be a bit shaky at times.

Roy thought we should get the calf hutch set up for her. I strongly disagreed, I wanted her in my barn, and Brandon sided with Roy. So Brandon and I drug out this large plastic hutch and got it set up for Betty’s arrival. We got out the calf cart with the flat tires and the broken latch and set off to pick up Shaky Betty. This time I rode in the back with her even out the lane of the farm. I was so concerned that she would not be able to stand for the ride home. The cart only allows for the calf to stand, so I put my arms in the cart and under her belly and held her up and promised her she would be safe at her new home.

There were many ups and downs with Shaky Betty. The calf hutch was not a place for a handicapped calf. The first day, I spent most of the day, walking her with a dog collar and a lead. She headed right to my barn. The door was open and she walked right in. I would take her back to the hutch and she did not want to get back in. She spent a lot of time falling down. I knew I had to have her in my barn.

Brandon said no and Roy agreed. So the next day I set out to make her a home in my barn by myself. In a half-hour Brandon appeared as I was trying to lug a very large gate over to the right spot to make a pen for her. We bedded it up with straw. I went to fetch her from the hutch and she crookedly walked to the barn, delicately stepped in to her new home and fell down. This was larger, safer, and she would have plenty of space to exercise her weak muscles.
She loves to eat, and has a spirit to match. She is just very shaky, and would fall down a lot. I had to know what was wrong with her. I got on line, and asked a Vet. For $25.00 he would tell me why my calf was shaky. He was in California; I thought that was really stupid. So I just keep looking for answers. I took my dog, Babe, to the Vets, and got into a conversation with him and he agreed to come take a look at her. Roy said that was crazy, it would cost money. I never told him about the internet Vet, now that was crazy! So the Vet came out, looked and said wow! I don’t know, maybe it could be thiamine deficiency. He thought probably the Vit. B shoots and the early intervention helped her. He did not think polio, and he said these few words that I would have paid anything for, “she looks like she is going to be with us for a while.”
Shortly after that Roy gave her a yellow earring. I guessed he thought she is going to make it. Then one day he asked what day did we get Betty, he wanted to put her in his book of inventory. I still had a nagging thought I don’t think she is going to make it.

The other day when I was preparing for her trip to the baby pasture, through the barn yard, she bolted for the big cows pasture. I ran after her and yelled stop, careful, watch out for the electric fence! She stopped, turned and looked at me, my eyes begged her to come back and she did. She tripped into the electric fence, it did not shock her, she put her shaky nose on the fence pole and then on the fence it did not shock her. I thought, my God, she cannot feel pain. Please Betty come back into your safe pen, please. She continued to approach and stopped one last time to put her shaky nose on the fence, and she fell down, yelled like I have never heard her. Well, now she knows about the electric fence. I had no problem getting her to the baby pasture after that.

The B&B guest feed her. Everyone looks at her and agrees she is a little shaky. I brush her daily to stimulate her nerves and muscles. And she does her work, practicing running like a horse in the baby pasture. She runs much better than she can walk. The first time I realized she could run was when I was with her in her pen in my barn. I was on a bale of straw yelling “Go Betty, Go!” The cows were lined up behind us watching, and when I stopped yelling, Go Betty and she stopped, the cows started mooing very loudly. So I began to yell again, “Go Betty, Go!” They stopped and watched. This went on for about 5 minutes; Shaky Betty was the star of the barnyard. The herd loved her and knew her now.

One day shortly after the Vet bill came, I had Betty in the baby pasture. She was running back and forth, I began to chant “you are a race horse, not an Angus cow, go girl!” She ran wildly, from one end to the fence to the other. I am always amazed how close she gets to the fence and how she can turn on a dime and not run into the fence and take off again. Well, she fell, I ran over and held her, she was coughing, choking, her heart beating very fast, and she pooped herself. I rubbed her and said to calm down that she really was an Angus Calf. I thought I needed to call for help, do cow CPR, do something, but don’t call a Vet. I promised never again to call a Vet. So I just resolved myself that she would die, here in my arms. I told her I loved her, and Mommy was here. She jumped up and recovered. She just had some sort of spell I guess. I told you she had spirit, did I mention determination!

Very soon I will see Shaky Betty in the pasture. In my vision, I see myself in the front field I will call out to Bert and Ernie, and Ernie will moo, “I am here, the leader.” Molly my first Crow Farm rescue #435 will come over and eat grass from my hand. Molly is pregnant now and I know she will be a great mother and take good care of her calf, because I have told her so ever since I pulled her out of the manure mess and took care of her. She will be following Poopy, learning the best routes to the grass. Big Bird, is my little midget. He is still very small. He did baby pasture training with Shaky Betty until he told me he had enough of hanging out with the little calf. Everyone knows Big Bird, because he did not get a yellow ear ring. So he does not exist in the inventory. He is shinny because I brush him each day. Sometimes when I am in the barnyard feeding, I feel a nudge and turn around and it is my Bird, looking for some hugs or a treat. And I imagine that Shaky Betty will be in the barnyard with the other family members and she will be known as only Betty.