I called Donna and also Michael. Since I only got his voicemail I figured he was still at work on the train and out of town. I had Donna come over at 3 pm. A few minutes later Michael showed up. He had just gotten in on the train and was now off work. So Michael helped me band and ear tag the calf. It wasn't hard to do.
After we were done the calf just laid there flat. Often calves like to jump up and leave after banding or ear tagging. He was also breathing heavily. Michael lifted his head up.
Michael got the calf up to stand for a photo. But the calf fought and eventually laid down.
The calf also let his tongue partially hand out of his mouth. Once or twice his eyes rolled back. We rubbed him and talked to him to get him to be active. He then sat up as he laid there. Earlier in the morning the calf seemed normal. He sat up as he laid and no tongue out of his mouth when I first saw him in the morning..
We thought the heavy breathing may be because the calf was too warm laying in the sun, so Michael and I got the calf to walk over to a shady area. His mom came closer as she was hanging back as we were with the calf. His breathing was a little slower but still fast. Michael and I watched him for a while. After a while he stood up and peed. So we figured he had drank milk from his mother after he was born. The mother stood around so the calf could drink. He wandered around a bit, check the udder, but didn't really drink. Maybe he had drank before we arrived and was still full.
He is a very big calf. Bigger than any of the other calves born this year. The mother is average sized. I wonder if it was a long and difficult birth. As a result the calf is a little on the slow side. And boy calves seem to start out slower than girl calves just after their birth. I'll keep an eye on him and check on hm tomorrow.
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