Cow Down

When you are a rancher don't make concrete plans because they can change in a flash. The renters from the farm house came by to pay the rent then we left for a while. When we came home the answering machine was practially doing a dance with flashing light. It was the girl part of the renter couple's voice. She said there is a cow down in the pasture and she can't get up. Her leg is bleeding and we think she tripped over a post. I called her back to tell her we're on our way. No time to put on work clothes and work boots. When we got there it is a different cow then John thought it might be. A younger cow with good teeth and has a calf on the ground. She looked pretty bad her head in the mud where the renters had tried to give her water. The young couple was sitting on a pole near by watching her. Renter guy admitted he doesn't know anything about cows but did anything John told him to do including twisting the cows tail. John doesn't like to flip a cow over but felt he had no choice with not much to work with. They was able to twist her over and our of the mud and get her laying on her legs the way you see cows in the pasture because she was completely down on her side with her head down on the ground and her neck stretched out. Her stomach was bloated. When they got her laying down the way a cow normally lays she started belching and then her stomach went down and she started looking better in her eyes. John had renter girl to go get a large beer bottle (renter guy always has plenty of those) and put some water and sugar in it. He held her head up and forced the sugar water down her throat. He hopes getting her up off her side and propping a log against her to keep her from laying back down on her side and the sugar water to give her energy saved her life. He and his daughter had already planned to put our hay tomorrow so they will try to get her up or lift her onto something to carry her with the tractor to the pens so she won't be hurt by the other cattle. There they can make sure she gets plenty of feed and water without the other cows bothering her. John's first thought was that the renter's large dogs had got out and chased the cows but they say the dogs were in the yard. He will never know for sure what happened but maybe she will be okay.