Leave it to a cow to show you the "impossible..."

We shipped calves on Friday and those that didn't make the trucks, were left behind to wean in the corrals. We put them in the back behind the sturdiest fence and fed them.

The next morning, we were enjoying coffee and relaxing with the weight of shipping off of our shoulders. Our friend who runs his cows across the road from us, rapped on the door.

"Domingo?"

"Yeah?"

"You've got a calf in the water trough."

Things got rather not relaxed in a hurry as Husbeast jumped into action. The snow had started that morning and it was cold. The calf would need to be warmed up somehow and a bath tub was out of the question for a 475-500 pound calf.

The two of them used the backhoe to lift the calf out of the trough.

Husbeast came back in after a while and suggested I check out what he's come up with to warm the calf up...

I found the heifer between two small fires. She had begun to shiver, which was an improvement from how they found her. She came out of the trough not moving, not shivering, not looking good.

Husbeast tubed her with electrolytes and gave her the equivalent of aspirin to help comfort her and give her a boost.

The other calves watched intently and I took time to tell them what a terrible idea it would be for them to consider the same escape plan...

After a rub down, Husbeast watched the fire die down long enough that he knew she couldn't burn herself and he went to get a load of hay for the other calves.

About an hour after she was rescued, the escapee was chewing her cud and had shifted positions.

We threw hay to her where she was that night.

The next morning, when I fed calves, she was eager to get to the hay pile and chased my puppy and me before heading back through the gate to her herd. I'm quite happy to say that she is going just fine.

I just hope she's a little bit smarter for the experience...