-Paige
On Wednesday of this week the cow that I was assigned to gave birth. First, all I saw was #327 Dynamite (my cow's) tail raised. And then I was able to lube up and feel inside for a little nose and mouth-the first idea I had of what he or she might look like. After a little while we were able to see the head outside of the mama cow. And then all at once, it was out! A beautiful, fuzzy, bug-eyed little boy. After he was thoroughly licked by mom, we placed him in a cart and brought him to the calf barn where we assessed him for health and dipped his navel in iodine. I was able to give him his first bottle and there is just no better feeling than snuggling with a newborn calf and watching them have their first meal. I checked on him today and there are several small indicators that he is growing. He’s already a bit more steady on his feet. His fur is no longer yellow tinged, but a bright white and black. It is so soft, especially under his chin. His ears and his eyes seem disproportionate to the rest of him, and it makes him all the more loveable. On my drive home I happened to think, what would have happened if I had never changed my major? I originally came to Umaine for Equine Management, which happens to be a part of the school of Economics. After realizing that the money side of things just wasn’t for me, I switched to Psychology as my major and Animal Science as my minor. With this degree I hope to be able to provide companion animal therapy to people that would really benefit from it. I am so glad that I switched because if I hadn’t, I would have missed a lot of things that I have learned and experienced over the past two years. But most importantly, I never would have met a perfect little bull calf named Dagger.
-Paige
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
March 2022
Categories |