Auggie

by

This spring, Jules and I were checking on the cows, and we came at just the right time to see Auggie be born.

He came out the way he was supposed to—with nose lying on front feet first—but his mom was standing up. Now, this isn’t too uncommon, but I’ve not seen it much, honestly. Usually, the cow lies down and has her baby that way.

Still, Julia and I stood back and watched this little guy slip into the world and land with a thump on his nose.

We weren’t too far away, and we could tell he was okay—he was moving and breathing—but I was alarmed when I saw his face. My first thought was that he’d broken his jaw when he landed on his head.

After getting a little closer and examining him (not touching him, because, you know, mama was kind of protective), I realized that Auggie had a cleft palate.

Maybe you’ve seen or heard of this in children before, as I have, but I’ve never seen it in a calf. He has the top of his nose, but the bottom of his nostrils are missing. His mouth just closes on his nose, which is kind of flat. There’s really nothing to hold his tongue in.

I never said anything to anyone online, because I honestly wasn’t sure if he’d live. I didn’t think he’d be able to suck. Often with a severe cleft palate, there’s a hole in the roof of the mouth and normal breathing and swallowing is hard if not impossible.

Auggie’s cleft palate is pretty severe.

I hate it when I tell a story about one of our animals and they end up not making it. So, I waited.

I have to hand it to Auggie’s mom. She’s a sweetheart, and she stood patiently while Auggie nosed around, fumbling and clumsy, as he tried to learn to eat.

I never talked about the calf I killed (on accident), and I guess I don’t want to do that now, but Auggie was born this spring about that time. Let’s just say it hadn’t been a great week for me. Seeing Auggie’s mom patiently stand still while Auggie taught himself to eat was such a joy.

And he did it. He ate.

We were told he might be able to suck, but he probably wouldn’t be able to chew grain or grass.

Well, I can report to you today that he’s been eating grass for several months (and we don’t feed grain), and he’s not only surviving but thriving.

He’s one of our favs. : )

The girls had just watched the movie Wonder, and that’s where he got his name.

Augge is special to us, partly because we were there from the beginning. My absolute favorite part of farming is watching animals be born.

 

Have you ever seen an animal be born?

38 thoughts on “Auggie”

  3. I love kidding season here and try to be on hand when my goats kid because with miniature goats, the likelihood of babies being tangled or too big ( if it’s a single) and needing assistance is a bit higher. It’s exhausting but so rewarding!

  6. Jessie, I always look forward to your stories!!!

    Would you believe I have never seen an animal being born? Never, ever. But I am a huge fan of vet shows, especially the country vet, Dr. Pol, and there’s lots of birthings going on with him. I found it interesting when you said cows usually lay down to calve. The ones portrayed on vet shows are almost always standing up – but then, they are usually difficult deliveries that make for good drama. 🙂

    I always worry about Dr. Pol’s arm being broken or dislocating his shoulder, though, when he has to help a big mama cow or horse with her baby.

    So glad is Augie is thriving!!!!

    • I’ve never seen Dr. Pol. I’ll have to check him out sometime!

      In my experience the cow lies down just a push or two before the calf comes out. Maybe if she needs help that instinct is messed up? (But Dr. Pol would be the expert on that!)

      There is definitely a lot of opportunity to get hurt when you’re working with large animals! I’ve never heard of anyone breaking anything, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen!

  8. I’ve never seen animals being born except in videos. I loved your story about Auggie and so glad he is thriving!.

    • Maybe someday you’ll see it in real life. I heard there is a big dairy farm near Chicago that actually has a pen with seating where the public can come and watch calves be born.

  9. Oh praise the Lord. Not only did He allow Auggie to live and thrive, but He allowed you to watch the miracle. Thanks for sharing this. Yes I have watched many an animals births. I lived on a farm in CA for many years. I loved to watch them being born. One rainy night, we heard a funny noise outside. Dad, Mom and I went out to check. We knew we had coyotes in the area and we also knew we had a sow ready to pop any day. Well thankfully no coyotes. But Pansy was giving birth and having a little bit of a hard time. So Dad helped her along, Mom kept the big umbrella over him and Pansy and helped Dad. I was helping wherever asked. As each new piglet was born I would take it to the “Pig Shed” and dry it off and set it in some straw in a corner of one of the stalls. Pansy had 13 piglets. As I walked out of the shed to go back to Dad and Mom, the last piglet was born. It was a runt. Dad was going to take it and get rid of it. NO NO NO I wanted this little runt. I pleaded and cried, but they didnt see the tears in the rain. Mom convinced Dad to let me have the runt. They took care of Pansy, taking her to the shet, drying her off and getting her settled with her piglets. I took this little white and black runt into the house, dried him off and found a box and an old large towel and set him up by my bed. When mom came in she got some milk for him and a bottle and I fed him. Wow was he hungry for a runt. LOL This is what was in front of us. LOL He followed Mom and I all over the place. He ate so much. When he wanted to go outside to do his business, he would rub his nose up and down the sliding glass door. So I named him Squeak. When us five kids walked up to the bus stop, our two dogs walked with us and waited for us to get on the bus. Now Squeak followed the dogs. Then they headed back home. Mom would feed Squeak while I was away. Long story short – Squeak got to be over 600 lbs of pure boar. He roamed free on the farm until a sow came in heat..

    • Haha! Love the story about Squeak! Runts are adorable. They just need a little extra care and they’ll grow like crazy.

  10. As usual, Jessie, You are an inspiration to us all. Your love for all the critters on the farm, no matter if it is an ‘Auggie’, or a ‘Crazy Cow’ that likes to run you into fences and stomp on you. You handle each one with the tenderness of a loving caretaker…. just some with a bit more distance apart. LOL Makes you think how tender the Lord is, to even the ‘Crazy Cows’ of the human variety.

    • That’s such a great thought – God lives and cares for us all no matter how difficult we are at times!

  11. When I was a kid, I saw many kittens being born. Such a terrific experience. Great news about Auggie!

  12. I grew up on a farm so have seen several animals being born, mostly I recall piglets. I also watched chickens hatch. It is fascinating. Nature is a beautiful thing and I believe all children should be aware of what happens in God’s beautiful creation for all to see.

  13. I have not seen an animal being born. I’m a city girl, and even when we went to visit our cousins in the country, we didn’t see any.

  15. Hi, wow, Thanks be to God that you little Auggie is thriving, I already love him! God sent you a little angel. Yes, I have seen puppies being born and also piglets, and kittens and also little parakeets being hatched, it is so awesome to see God miracles . Have a great week and stay safe. Thank you so much for sharing about Little Auggie.

  18. I have watched several calves being born. One had to be hooked up to chains and pulled out. It was a difficult delivery for both mom and calf. We have hatched several dozen eggs. It is fun to watch them hatch, but mammal births are much more complicated.
    No puppies or kittens born at our house. Every dog or cat we have gotten is spade or neutered before it comes home with us. We have gotten kittens and puppies, but they have all been rescues or fosters.
    You are so lucky the calf is doing well. I worked with a program that brought children from the barrios of the Philippines in to have surgery. Those who do have a severe cleft seldom survived because they can’t nurse and medical care and options is minimal in the villages.

    • On the dairy farm, we pulled a lot of calves. Holsteins.

      That’s sad. I’m so glad there are people like you who will help! And I feel so blessed to live in such an amazing country!

  19. Oh, I am so glad he is doing okay. Thank you for sharing the story. I have never had the opportunity to be around when a baby was born. God bless you.

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