Bambi's Story

One of our Jersey cross calves, Bambi ( named him that because he looked just like a baby deer when we got him :), who we had grafted (adopted) onto our Jersey nurse cow, Honey. Honey had a very bad abscess in her hoof, so we had to give her an antibiotic shot, it was a lot medicine too. So then the very next morning, I found Bambi almost dead. He couldn't even lift hi head! Let alone stand to nurse her. So I had to tube him (literally stick a tube down his throat because he couldn't suck a bottle) with electrolytes so he can get re-hydrated and get his energy back. I definitely think this is from the antibiotics we gave Honey, because it goes right into her bloodstream, which goes right into her milk, which goes right into poor Bambi :(

After about a week, Bambi finally got better. He could walk and nurse, but his front left leg didn't work. He would just drag it around. Me and Deloy splinted it, but that didn't do anything. And after a while, Bambi started getting wounds on the leg from dragging it. So I wrapped it to protect it, but i had to move him and Honey to an outside pen (from the barn where they were) where it had snowed; yes this is all happening in the middle of 0 degree winter! Only a week later, I took off the bandage because it had gotten wet, and the wound had become infected. It spread to wrap around his whole leg. Eventually, his whole hoof/bone up to his fetlock joint (the wrist or ankle) was just hanging on by a thread, like a loose tooth. I could even kinda twist it, yuck. Then one morning I found that darn hoof laying on the ground, and it stunk real bad too!

Bambi's leg is still healing, and he will kinda walk on his half leg. He is a waste of a calf technically because we won't be able to sell him, and he is a Jersey so he isn't beefy at all. So he will be for our home dinner table. But he is/was definitely a good learning experience!