Joy and Pain- Part 2 of 3

I called 2 dairies and within about 30 minutes the farmer was on his way to pick up a bull calf from the dairy that Sweetums was born at almost 3 years ago. While he was gone, I did more internet research on how to make this work. It is not uncommon for ranches and dairies to do this in emergency situations, but it is often met with frustration and (more) hard work to convince a Mama that she should mother a new calf that doesn’t smell like her baby. I received a call from a dairyman’s wife that night and she told me what they do in situations like this and encouraged me to not give up or become frustrated. This was a process, just like it had been a process along. This was not going to happen easily. Had anything happened easily yet? This was going to require a commitment on our part to working with the 2 of them so that the calf wouldn’t starve and Sweetums would accept him as her own. I did everything she told us to do. I prayed. We worked. More praying. More crying. And in the morning, we witnessed a miracle. Sweetums now had a little boy calf whom she licked and nursed. She talked to him all day, leading him around the pasture. She protected him and taught him. The sight of them together melted my heart. She accepted him readily-finally, something easy!
But the road to this point has been anything but easy. And the thought of what she went through and what we went through that day still hurts. I wish none of us had to go through it. But we did, and I’m very grateful to all the people who helped us during this process. I don’t know that without their help it would have turned out like it did. That is the beauty of a small town and of country life. You have people you can call on who will help you when there isn’t anything in it for them.