Prolapsed Heifer

Cap of the Day:  Black HOH MC with Custom Brand (in this case, the Bar 16 is my cattle brand).
Today started out like any other day, but it changed quickly when Shane called. We have a heifer down.....and the dreaded words followed......"She's prolapsed and I need your help." Great.....
Around here going and helping Shane isn't like it used to be....throw on a coat and my boots and rush out the door. Now, Mom has to come over to watch Stone. So, she gets here quickly...I'm dressed and off I go. Surprisingly it's not as cold as it looks outside and the fresh air smells really good. I get in the white Dodge hydrabed pickup and head to the corrals....not sure of what I'd find.
Shane is prepped and ready to go. The heifer is laying down on a hill, which is what got her in trouble in the first place. Her calf is in the hot box and not doing well (think he went too long without oxygen). Shane lays a tarp out, ties her feet together and ties the rope to the grill guard so she doesn't try to get up or kick us. Time to get started. For those of you that don't know, a prolapse is a death sentence if not fixed quickly and properly. They are not fun to fix and rank right up there as one of my least favorite things about ranching. Anyway, Shane starts trying to push her "guts" back in with his hands. This usually doesn't work after awhile because a person's hands wear out. So, he takes off his boots and proceeds to push everything back in with his feet. Not a pretty site....may as well throw his socks in the garbage after this! This usually does the trick, but this is one of the worst prolapses we've seen. So.......off comes my coat and gloves and I get to join in the fun. What a sight!! Him with his feet in the back end of the heifer and me with my hands.....talk about sharing some quality time with my spouse!! After about 5 minutes of this, things finally get going in the right direction. Out come the hog rings and the orange baler twine. We get her stitched up and sitting upright again. I give her 60 ccs of Penicillin to help fight infection. Shane unties her legs and we leave her alone.
I give Shane a ride to the bunkhouse. He can barely walk as his feet are really cold. He undresses, warms up for a bit, and puts on his sweats and old tennis shoes. We check on the calf in the hot box and Shane decides to put him out of his misery. No sense in letting a baby calf suffer when he is barely breathing. I hate this part so I get to go to the bunkhouse and wash up the syringe and tools. Heifer is still up so we decide to take an hour and head in for coffee and breakfast. Somehow I don't feel like eating very much!
Now, I'm in the house finishing my blog. Time to get to work on the Matador Ranch's order. I hope to finish it tomorrow so I can get it in the mail on Thursday on our way to Montana. Mom, Stone, and I are going to visit my Gram and pick up a new older horse I bought. Hope the rest of our day is a bit more uneventful than the first few hours were!