Buddy is in the house!

Thanks to son Church Matthews on several levels.  To explain:

“Buddy” is this two-week old calf, a twin rejected by his mother that we brought into the garage and bottle-fed.  In addition to being orphaned, he also had a serious infection that had crippled him and left him mostly blind.  That required we “break protocol” and use antibiotics.

Several days ago, we put him outside in a protected pen and permitted some of our nursing cows to visit….hoping for an “adoption”.  It didn’t happen.

And now, with up to three-feet of snow in our forecast this weekend, we decided we needed him where we could be sure we could get at him.  But as you can see, Buddy has thrived on the bottle.  He’s added at least 10 pounds, all of it muscle.  So Church volunteered to come out from town, pick him up and drive him back in the Gator.

Buddy seemed to welcome the return to his warmer digs and we can devote our full attention to the cows still calving in the face of the approaching blizzard.  (One was going into labor last night)  Then we’ll have to find a more permanent solution for our spoiled “big baby”….perhaps a 4-H adoption.