Meet Augustus. Gus for short. He is the heir of our Caesar and namesake of another. For my little ones, his name is a mouthful hence the nickname. To me, he’s Little Caesar’s.
If you would have asked me on Friday, if he would be alive today, I would have emphatically asserted, “NO!” As I scoured the internet to find when he should be nursing, all of the information indicated that he had less than 2-3 hours to get colostrum into his gut before he would need a blood transfusion to survive. Unlike people, beneficial bacteria do not pass the placental barrier and colonize in the gut, so it is essential that they receive that from the colostrum in order to be healthy…. and survive. If they do not get those nutrients, the window of opportunity for absorption passes and they’re in trouble and will suffer from scours or pneumonia.
Well it took him a full day to figure out how to properly nurse, but he seems to have it down now. I’m amazed at how quickly he eats. I imagined that he would be seen spending a great deal of time nursing (I know it takes us a long time to get that milk out!), but he is at the job for usually less than a few minutes. He is relieving himself often enough that I’m no longer concerned.
I’ve become a student in maternal cow behavior and for the most part it has been a pleasure observing this part of her personality, listening to the way she speaks to him. Not so much when it comes to her fascination with when he expels his waste products to the point of drinking them. Didn’t know they did that.
Maybelle is wonderfully easy going with us around her babe. Even when she is feeling a bit nervous, she quickly is reassured and calmed. I’m hoping that when we begin to milk her on July 5th she will handle the separation well. Milking should be started at 4-7 days postpartum and we’re extending that a bit so that our holiday plans aren’t interrupted. (Who am I kidding?? We are sick every year around the 4th. We aren’t going anywhere.)
She calls him, ‘Kitty’. I wonder that she associates him with the kitty rather than Maybelle whose name she calls out in perfect imitation of how we call her in.
The two fuzziest heads I know…. she’s giving him a hug.
We’ve already begun the process of halter breaking him. He cares little for it, but doesn’t put up too much of a fuss. When he does, he’ll thrash his head around, lose balance, and fall flat on his side to the ground. It’s quite comical.
To us at least. Maybelle seems to be anything but entertained.
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