An Interesting Thanksgiving.

<span style="font-size:92">Well my Thanksgiving was going alright I guess.<br>I got to go back to my home state and share it with all of my family. <br>But I didn’t expect it to turn out quite this way.<br><br>So we ate Thanksgiving dinner late, since we got there a tad bit early and<br> everyone was already full. But after I ate I usually take my rounds <br>around the farm, since I barely get to go there except maybe three times <br>a year if I am lucky. So it’s birthing time for most of my grandparent’s <br>angus cows and out of the herd I have my own that I picked from birth. I <br>found out earlier from talking on the phone that she was also pregnant <br>now, since she was about three years old. <br><br>Well I was walking around the farm, petting the new babies and checking<br> up on my favorite cows when I saw a large black lump sitting out in the <br>pasture. I hadn’t seen Floke yet, which is the cow I am talking about. So I<br> was wondering if that could be her. So I walked through the pasture and <br>sure enough it was her. And she was in labor. So I was excited of course,<br> but something bothered me about her. She didn’t look exactly ready to <br>have the baby. The signs weren’t there, and it just seemed off.<br><br>So I left her alone. Told my grandfather and my aunt’s boyfriend and <br>they all went out and checked on her. They said she seemed a little <br>unusual but she would probably have her calf by the end of the night. <br>Now remember, this is my favorite cow. I mean I met her when she was<br> just born and she was the sweetest and tamest of the whole herd. You <br>could put hats on her without her flinching and she had never charged or <br>kicked anyone. So I was a little worried when I went to bed that night, but <br>I hoped I would wake up to a calf from her. I hoped the calf had her spirit<br> and attitude since she was so special, I also hoped it was a hefer so my <br>grandparents would keep it.<br><br>I woke up next morning, slipped on some pants with my pajamas and <br>went outside. I looked for Floke and I was surprised once again to see <br>her on the ground, in the field. I went up to her and she looked in the <br>same appearance as she did the other day. And that’s when I really got <br>worried. I went to my grandfather and told him to call one of his friends <br>that had pulled a calf for him before.<br><br>The guy showed up, and we put Floke in the chute. When he looked, he <br>told us it wasn’t good at all. The calf’s sack had already broken and he <br>told us it had probably been dead inside Floke since yesterday. I started <br>to really get sad.. but I was too busy running back and forth getting <br>things from bleach and water to dish soap. <br><br>They tried to pull the dead calf, and they couldn’t seem to get it out. So <br>now my Floke was really in trouble, so I told my grandpa to call the vet. <br>So my grandpa’s friends left and the vet came instead. He also tried to <br>pull the calf, and once again he couldn’t do it. So he made a decision to <br>do a c-section on her in the field right there.<br><br>Well if you had seen a c-section it’s pretty gruesome so I will spare you <br>the details of it all. But I ended up getting to pull the calf from her (the <br>dead hefer I was hoping for), and stitch some of her up with the vet. <br>Which I thought was a pretty educational experience, besides the fact that<br> my cow just had surgery and was knocked out on the ground. The vet <br>said the calf was just too large for her. And after we got it out he was <br>sure right, that thing was the largest calf I have ever seen but that was <br>besides the point.<br><br>So that’s what my Thanksgiving was like. And right before I left, another <br>cow had her calf and it was a girl. So I think that made up for the loss of <br>Floke’s calf. But I was still looking forward to seeing the poor thing jump <br>and frolic. </span>