It doesn’t matter what species you are, when the seasons change there is a time where everyone gets sick. It starts with a runny nose, then escalates to a temperature and by the time you realize you are sick it’s too late. A few days in bed, without treatment will assist the cold into knocking you out for a few days but add in some cold medicine, decrease the symptoms and your body gets the rest it needs to recover in a timely manner. The same goes for cattle, they enjoy the colder months, I mean they are built with a thick hair coat and ability to thrive on forage. But they get colds and they need the same treatment that we (humans) need, so her we are giving a calf some antibiotics due to its runny nose and temperature late last night. As a farmer the animals schedule and needs trump ours every time, it didn’t matter that it was late, supper was waiting to go into the oven at my house or that we had hay to mow. The only thing that mattered was making sure the calf started to feel better. My daughter, 12 months old, being used to the barn sat in her stroller watching us doctor the calf. She didn’t fuss at all and maybe they were talking to each other because as soon as we got home her nose started to run and her temperature went up. So my daughter and her calf both received attention last night. We had pizza for supper and after an 18 hour day I headed for bed. When I went to bed I felt good knowing that we had helped an animal that it and that its body was getting the much needed rest it needed for recovery. The truth is we haven’t even headed full on into the season change so I am sure this wont be the last time I get extra barn time this Fall.
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