Behind every great Calf…
Behind every great Calf, there is a great Cow.
And sometimes, behind every great Cow, there is a great Vet.
Some of you might remember reading about Shat Acres Brandy Brooklyn and the life-threatening injury she endured. In October 2020 when Brooklyn was a year old, she got tangled in electrified speed fence. As she tried to get away, the woven wire tightened more and more on her hind leg, severing the tendon to the bone above her right rear hoof. The tendon was unable to be repaired, and the hoof flopped back and forth at the base of her leg. We did not know if Brooklyn would ever be able to walk and wondered what to do. Most of all, we did not want her to suffer. We called our Vet. Dr. Rumpke told us to try to get Brooklyn up to the barn, and that she would be there in less than half an hour. It was a slow and arduous process to get Brooklyn safely to the barn, but when the Vet arrived Brooklyn was in a pen, bedded with clean straw.
Our vet told us Highlands are very resilient and it was worth a try to save her. Cleaning the wound, and after anesthetizing Brooklyn, she stitched the gash and cast the leg. After three weeks, the cast was removed, and the leg bandaged. Putting Brooklyn in the squeeze chute, Ray and I changed the bandage every two weeks for 5.5 months. Brooklyn lived in a pen in the barn all winter. She was super patient as we changed the bandage and did not seem to mind the confinement.
When we finally let her out of the barn in March 2021, it was with trepidation. We did not know if she would be able to walk--much less run. Brooklyn surpassed all of our expectations, kicking up her heals and playing in the wood chips we put down to make the ground soft for her first venture out in the fresh air. We were all jumping for joy--most of all Brandy Brooklyn.
The blessings continue. On June 22, 2023, Brooklyn delivered a spectacular, healthy, super-cute black bull calf, Shat Acres Brooklyn Beauregard. This is Brooklyn's second calf since recovering from her injury. Brooklyn is a wonderful mother, and for six months fed and cared for her calf in the pasture. Four weeks ago, Brooklyn Beauregard came into the barn for weaning. When calves come in for weaning, momma and calf talk to each other through the barn's steel gate. Our protocol is fence line weaning, where momma and calf can touch noses and moo back and forth. It was no different for Brooklyn and baby, but after four days both seemed comfortable with the separation.
With Brooklyn's 2023 baby in the barn for weaning it was time for cow-whisperer Ray to work his magic, patiently taming and socializing a calf that had not been touched since he was born and had a tag put into his ear. This bull calf of Brooklyn takes the cake! Perhaps Brooklyn shared with her boy how her caregivers patiently saved her leg, giving her quality of life no one (except maybe our Vet) imagined possible after her injury.
What a joy Beau is! So tame and so gentle, and just like his momma seems to want nothing more than to make his humans happy. In less than ten minutes after coming into the barn, this weanling bull was loving the comb and the hands-on attention. He particularly likes nuzzling Ray's ears and hair. Guests at our Highland House Farm Stay love communing with Beau, and he is all too eager to please!
In 2020, Brooklyn’s recovery from her severed tendon was a miracle, and now she has gifted us this spectacular baby boy.
Shat Acres Brooklyn Beauregard
DOB: June 22, 2023
Dam: Shat Acres Brandy Brooklyn
Sire: Skye High Glen Rock
Grand Dam: Shat Acres Raisin Brandy, 2017 NWSS Grand Champion
Great Grand Dam: Shat Acres Cinnamon Raisin, 12X Grand Champion, 3X Supreme Champion of Show