Elsie's BoBo

 

This is our girl, Elsie.  Elsie is a Jersey heifer and she should be a cow.  What I'm meaning by that is that she should have calved by now as she's been exposed during heat cycles to several different bulls.  It just never "took."  We had the vet look at her and it turns out she had some cysts on her ovaries.  He took care of them and supposedly, she's good to go.  We put her and Nick (our Jersey bull) together for date night while she was in standing heat, and we observed them romancing.  We marked down the date and so far, it looks like she skipped a cycle.  That means perhaps she's pregnant.

She'd better be!  She's a fat cow.  I tell her every day, "Elsie, you'd better be pregnant.  If you're not, you'd better get pregnant fast.  You are a milk cow.  Cows don't make milk unless they get pregnant.  If you don't get pregnant, we're not going to keep you around to just eat grass.  You'll go to be processed and put in our freezer."  Of course she has no clue of what I'm telling her, but it's true.

In looking her over yesterday, I noticed something.  It is a circular wound on her side, about the size of a silver dollar.  It is a nasty looking wound, yellow and festering and flies were around it.  We quickly moved into action.  We got some iodine in a sprayer from the shelf in the feed room in the barn and sprayed the area real good.  It must burn, because Elsie didn't like that one bit.  Today, it looked a little bit better.  We sprayed more iodine on it.  Tomorrow Tricia will inspect it and put either some honey (natural antibiotic) or some Neosporin.

We will continue to watch it.  Elsie is real rambunctious.  Two mornings ago, it got in the lower 50's in the morning.  It was cool and crisp and Elsie was acting frisky, running and kicking up her heels like small calves do.  She probably ran into something and that's how she got the injury.  We try to keep our eyes open for hazards like that and as soon as we see them, we try to get them corrected.

Hopefully the iodine treatments, followed by honey and Neosporin will do the trick and heal up Elsie's bobo.  We'll post an update as things change. 

The Fat Cows

It hasn't rained since September 11 and even on that day, it only rained 3/10ths of an inch.  It's dry.  I water the garden every single day.  The rain barrels that I sequester rainwater from are all dry and have been dry for several weeks.  The grass in the yard is dead or dying.  The pasture, up to this point has held up nicely, but when I walked in the pasture today, the bermuda and bahai grass is thirsting for some rain.

There is a chance on Thursday and Friday of this week for precipitation.  We are watching that very closely and praying for Showers of Blessing.  With the grass in the pasture on its way out and the onset of cooler temps of winter coming, we begin to think of the cows.  How will they fare through the winter?  We do give them a little sweet feed and alfalfa, but mostly they're on grass throughout the spring and summer.

For the fall and winter, we've put up 75 bales of premium bermuda hay in the hay loft.  We actually still have four bales of last year's hay that we're giving them each day.  We also purchase round bales of hay that we roll out and allow the cows (and goats) to eat free choice on.  We've found that one round bale will last about a week.  We have an inventory of nine round bales covered in tarps and ready to roll out when needed.  The cows have some grass to clean up in the pasture.  In the next few weeks they'll eat that all up.

It's important that the cows are in good condition going into the winter, and I have to say that this year, the cows are well fit, perhaps in the best condition they've ever been in at this point.  I really couldn't tell you what the difference is.  Here's Rosie.  Rosie is 15 years and 8 months old!  That's OLD for a Jersey cow.  She just went into heat last week.  We put her with the bull and witnessed her in standing heat.  We think he bred her, but we'll check in a few weeks to see if she goes back into heat.  We have the date on the calendar.  The bull is still young and he's short.  We don't know if he was able to reach.  Only time will tell, but it sure would be nice to get another calf out of Rosie.  She's been such a good girl.

And here's Elsie.  I don't have a way to show perspective, but this heifer is huge.  She's big and fat!  And she is rambunctious.  She runs around like her tail's on fire.  It's actually dangerous to be around her.  You have to keep your head on a swivel.  She did not get bred last year.  The vet found a cyst on her ovary and took care of it.  We are trying to have Nicky the bull breed her this year.

We put them together and hopefully it took.  We've been watching for her to come back in heat, but so far nothing.  Hopefully, that means she's carrying a calf.  That's good for a number of reasons.  First, we need calves and we need more milk as we're about to dry up LuLu.  Second, if she calves, we're hoping that will mellow her out and she'll stop being crazy.  Finally, if she isn't able to get pregnant, she's going to go into our freezer.  I hate to be so harsh, but we just can't have an animal unable to calve or give milk continue to just eat grass.  Elsie, you're on the clock!

LuLu, on the other hand is a little skinny (I don't have a current photo of her), but she's been in milk for over a year and a half.  It's about time to dry her up and allow her to build up again.  We put her together with Nicky when she came in heat and we'll see if she comes back in heat.  It sure would be nice to have 3 spring calves!

Billy Boy the Bull is a Movie Star!

If you remember, Billy Boy is a Devon bull that we borrowed from a friend to breed Elsie and Rosie.  It was time for the old boy to leave, though.  My friend sold him to someone in St. Francisville, Louisiana.  I set up the livestock panels in a makeshift corral and coaxed him inside with some sweet feed.  Then I closed the panels up, and he was captured.  He didn't like it much being penned up.  He used his horns to try to lift up the green panels to make his escape.  He was unsuccessful in that endeavor.  He did, however, get green paint on his horns.  Remember that factoid at the end of this blog post.

Billy Boy's owner showed up with his trailer and we pushed Billy Boy into it.  Then Billy Boy was off to his new home in St. Francisville.  On the way there, my friend was called and reminded that there was a Beekeeper's Meeting in Baton Rouge and he had to be there.  You see, he sits on the Louisiana Farm Bureau Beekeeper's Advisory Committee.  After a minor detour, he and Billy Boy arrived in Baton Rouge at an impromptu photo shoot.

If you click on the arrow below, you can watch a 3 minute video from TWILA.  TWILA stands for This Week In Louisiana Agriculture.  They talk about beekeeping in Louisiana and the friend we borrowed the bull from is interviewed.  At the 1:28 mark of the video you can spot a cameo appearance by Billy Boy.  You can even see the green paint on his horns from Our Maker's Acres Family Farm!  Great photo bomb, Billy Boy!

Billy Boy should be up for an Oscar in his supporting role from that clip.  Sadly, Billy Boy was not successful in breeding Elsie and Rosie.  He was in our pasture with our cows for 3 or 4 cycles.  We watched him breed both cows.  Here in the past week we've watched both Elsie and Rosie come back into heat.  Doggonit!  

The Heat is On

In This Post from November we posted about bringing Nick back home.  He was a registered Jersey bull that we borrowed from a friend to breed our two heifers and cow.  We haven't seen LuLu come back into heat and, although we haven't had her palpated, when we look at her back end, we think her bag is starting to grow.

Here's a more close up shot.  Hopefully we're right.  If we are, somewhere in August, she'll be calving.  That's always exciting.

I wish we could say the same for Elsie and Rosie.  We've seen both of them go back into heat.  Nick had stayed here for two cycles.  We thought things were done, but obviously not.  A friend of ours has a breed of cows called Devon.  Devons were brought to Plymouth in 1624 from England.  They are a rare breed that are dual purpose - milk and meat.

We both figured it would be good to have a Devon - Jersey cross and since he has a two year old Bull, it just seemed like we should play matchmaker.  We drove to our friend's home and picked up Billy Boy and brought him back to our place.  Here's Billy Boy:

He's a stout fellow with horns.  The other animals are all keeping their distance from him.  He's walking around the pasture, getting a feel for the new surroundings.

The next day, however, he's become fond of Elsie.  She's expected to come into heat in the next day or so.  Elsie and Billy Boy have been spending time together, but Elsie is not in standing heat yet.  Things won't work until she's in standing heat.  We'll be watching for that.

Until that time, Billy Boy shadows Elsie everywhere she goes...

We estimate she'll get bred in a day or two.  We'll be watching to record the date and plan to keep Billy Boy around for another month to ensure that once bred, Elsie and Rosie don't come back into heat again.  Rosie ought to be ready to be bred in about a week.

Gotta Come up With a Plan B for the Cows

Last week when we were driving back from the hay field, we passed in front of the pasture and I had to stop the truck and get a photo of the cows.  They were all lined up in a row and looking right at us.  It was as if they were posing for an Olan Mills Family Portrait.  (Makes us sad Clarabelle isn't in the photo.)  In the afternoons, the cows like to meander over to the west side of the pasture next to the neighbors and relax in the shade.  Tricia and I were hot and sweaty from loading hay.  The cows were refreshed and rejuvenated in the green grass, shaded by pine trees.

From left to right is: Elsie (Clarabelle's heifer), LuLu (Rosie's heifer), and Rosie.  If you remember, Clarabelle was injured when the cows were going in heat and jumping on one another.  Cows' cycles are 21 days.  It is almost that time again.

This afternoon I contacted the neighbor that lives about 5 miles down the road that we always bring our cows to him to get bred.  Well... bad news.  He informed me that he sold his Jersey bull on the 12th of this month.  It was so darned convenient.  We'd mark off the days and when the cows/heifers were going into heat, we'd drive them down the road for their "date" and then pick them up.

We are frantically calling around, trying to arrange breeding with another Jersey bull.  So far the first call resulted in Strike 1.  The gentleman I called sold both of his earlier this summer during the drought and hasn't replaced them.  He did give us a lead and we'll be following up tomorrow on that lead as well as another.

Dairy bulls are not found in every pasture.  When our cows have bulls, we keep them around for at most two years.  They get real mean.  In fact, they injure/kill more farmers than beef cattle bulls.  When our bulls show the slightest signs of this ornery or bossy behavior, it's off to the slaughterhouse for them.

We will be on the phone tonight and tomorrow, trying to come up with a Plan B for how to get them bred.  We'll take Rosie and Elsie for breeding first and then two months later, we'll bring LuLu.  Hopefully we can find a bull that's not too far away!

Got Milk? Elsie & LuLu's answer is "Yes!"

He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.  Luke 3:11 KJV

It is good to share.  Our Lord encourages us to be generous and to love one another.  In fact, He makes a point to tell us to love our neighbor as ourselves. That begs the question, "Who is our neighbor?"  The Parable of the Good Samaritan answers that question.  Our neighbor is anyone we cross on our path.

I noticed a good example of that this weekend in the Animal Kingdom.  We share the milk with the calves.  I've mentioned it many times before.  During the day, Elsie and LuLu have full access to their mommas' milk.  All day long they can drink it at will.  However, at night we separate the calves from their mommas.  The milk the mommas make at night from that miracle they do of converting grass to milk is ours!  Why here is Elsie and LuLu cordoned off from their moms in the barn.  They watch us, expectantly, impatiently even.  When I finish milking Clarabelle, I open the gate.

With much flourish and fervor, Elsie runs through the gate and latches on to Clarabelle's teats.  By this time I've milked most of the milk out of her, but cows are uncanny about 'holding some milk back' for their babies.  Elsie sucks, slurping noisily, banging on Clarabelle's bag to make more milk fall.

LuLu does likewise, rushing out to suck on Rosie's teats, well three of them, at least.  We're hoping that changes soon.

Both Rosie and Clarabelle stand dutifully while their babies are nursing.  Everyone is getting their fill.  You will note that Elsie is growing.  Won't be long before she'll be as big as Clarabelle.  She's a big galoot.

Elsie is finished with her breakfast much sooner than LuLu.  Watch what happens.  Elsie moves over to Rosie and says, "LuLu, you gonna eat all of that?"  Then she proceeds to take a seat at the table.

LuLu is sharing with her neighbor, Elsie.  Side by side in harmony.  Dwelling together in unity.  Loving one another.

If only humans could take note and follow this example.  They might live in a land flowing with milk and honey.

The Results are In!

In our post from back in August you can read by clicking here: a2a2, we talked about how we took samples from both of our calves' tail hairs to determine if either was A2A2.  To make things simple A2A2 cows' milk is more easily digestible than A1A2 and is sought out by milk drinkers for that benefit.  People ask for A2A2 milk specifically.

Our cow Clarabelle, is A2A2 while Rosie is A1A2.  So back in our early August post, we had taken tail hair samples, pulling them out with roots attached.  We sent a bundle of 20 hairs from Elsie and a bundle of hairs from LuLu to the American Jersey Association where they do genetic analysis to determine the verdict.

Well, the answer came in the mail.  May we have the envelope, please.  (Drum Roll)

LuLu is A1A2.  Elsie is A2A2!

Should we decide to sell them, they are both registered Jersey cows.  That's desirable, but Elsie being A2A2 is an added benefit.  Rosie and Clarabelle are getting older, so we'll likely at some point need replacement(s), so we likely wouldn't sell both of them.  We've talked about it and think that if we were to sell one, we'd sell LuLu and keep Elsie.  She is gentle, very tame - overall a very loving heifer.  LuLu, on the other hand, is mischievous and wild as a March hare.  I need to do some work to break her.  I'd better get that done with the quickness, too.  It gets to be a harder job the older (and bigger) they get.

An Update on Elsie

Elsie is our little Jersey heifer that Clarabelle has on April 7th.  Today she is three months old. She is a pretty little calf and is officially registered with the American Jersey Cattle Association.  At two weeks old, we dehorned her with an electric de-horning iron.  At 3 months old you cannot even tell at all where the horns were.

Elsie is the tamest calf, but we've worked with her methodically every night putting a breaking halter on her and tying her up to a post.  We brush her and gently talk to her.  Over time, she's come to trust us and is very gentle.  Elsie is the calf in the back with the halter on.  In front of her, with no halter, is LuLu.  She's Rosie's heifer.  We'll start working with her soon.

Elsie and LuLu are half sisters and are partners in crime.  They run around the barnyard helter-skelter, with their tails high in the air, chasing chickens with dust and feathers flying.  They kick their heels in the air mischievously kicking the barn with a loud "thwack" sound that echoes across the pasture.  

Elsie is a growing calf.  She drinks all of Clarabelle's milk and then proceeds to go and share Rosie's milk with LuLu.  LuLu better be careful or she won't get enough!  We weigh Elsie by using a measuring tape that converts inches in girth to pounds. 

At about a month, she was 31 1/2 inches in girth, or 92 lbs.

At two months, she was 175 lbs.

At three months, Elsie was 42" in girth, or 240 lbs!

We'll keep you updates with how things are going.  I guess the next milestone for her will be when we wean her. 

Rosie, You're on the Clock

Clarabelle, had her little heifer, Elsie, two months ago tomorrow.  She's a healthy little thing, for sure.  Elsie is our first heifer in several years.  For some reason we hit a spell where every baby was a boy!  So now, Rosie is on the clock.  To the best of our knowledge, her due date is June 18th.  Below you can see the daily procession in the evening as Clarabelle heads to the barn for feeding, followed by Elsie, and then Rosie bringing up the rear.

Speaking of rears, Rosie's rear is fat and her girth is wide.  She must have a big ol' baby in her.  Tricia and I were talking about the ol' girl.  Rosie is twelve years old and to the best of our recollection, she's given us seven calves. 

We gave her half a scoop of sweet feed in her stall in the barn.  We have a rule that you only get fed an appreciable amount when you're in milk.  Otherwise, you are on grass and hay.  After her feeding, we put her back outside the barn.  In this photo, you can see a couple things: #1 is that she is FAT! #2 is that she is beginning to bag up.  What you can't see in the photo is that on her back end, she is starting to have some mucous leak out.  All signs of calving coming soon.

Ol' Rosie has been a good momma cow for us.  Hopefully, she'll give us a heifer.  Regardless, it'll be fun to have two little calves frolicking out on the pasture, kicking up their heels and running with their tails high in the air!

SOON!

Elsie, the Heifer, At a Month and Three Weeks Old

I thought we'd catch you up to date on Elsie, our little heifer.  She's almost two months old.  We have had quite a few calves over the years, but we think she may be the prettiest.  Rosie and Clarabelle may beg to differ.  Elsie is inquisitive and frisky.  We watch her jump around the pasture, playing with the goats.  Then she lifts her tail high in the air and runs as fast as she can.  Our neighbor has told us that she enjoys watching all the animal activity.  Here's Clarabelle and Elsie in the pasture on a sunny afternoon recently.  The grass in the pasture still hasn't really taken off.  We are still supplementing with hay, but with the warm days, the grass will soon outpace the animals' eating.

Elsie is getting plenty of Clarabelle's good milk to drink.  In the late afternoon, we call the cows to the barn so that we can separate Elsie from her momma.  About a week ago, we would have to milk Clarabelle out as Elsie wasn't drinking everything.  Not anymore.  That girl is growing!  She's now drinking it all.  We separate and all night long Clarabelle is able to make milk for us.  In the morning we milk (Tricia during the week and I do it on weekends) and then put Elsie back with Clarabelle.  We don't milk hard in order to leave a little for Elsie, but Clarabelle holds back some.

When we open the gate, hungry Elsie rushes out and begin to ravenously suck on each of Clarabelle's four teats, switching from one to another until they are all empty.

Right now, Elsie is drinking primarily milk.  Her rumen is not fully functional yet.  Her rumen is a fermentation vat where her body breaks down food.  In about four months her rumen will be developed and then she'll be able to digest grass.

Until then, she'll continue to nurse, drinking Clarabelle's sweet milk.

Breaking Elsie

Each night we go to the barn and separate Clarabelle from Elsie.   We bring Clarabelle into the barn and little Elsie follows, kicking up her heels, frisky and free.  We do this to separate the calf from the momma cow so WE have milk in the morning.  In past weeks (Elsie is now a month and two weeks old), I was bringing a bucket into the barn and milking at night, too.  Those days are gone.  Elsie is growing and as she grows, her demand for milk has grown.  Now in the evenings, she's taken ALL of the milk.

We feed Clarabelle before turning her out to the pasture.  Elsie stays in the barn behind the gate for the night.  Before we leave and while Clarabelle is eating, we get a little breaking halter out.  Elsie is not fond of it.  We put it around the back of her head and over her nose.

The way it works is that the more she pulls against it, the tighter it pulls around her nose, jaw, and head.  As I said, it is uncomfortable for her.  In the initial few times we did it, she was very dramatic.  She would pull against it and flop down on the ground.  Such drama!

With her head in the breaking halter, we tie the other end to a post in the barn - a strong post that doesn't move.  I read one time that when an elephant is a baby, a trainer will put a chain around its leg and tie it to a post.  The baby elephant tries and tries to break free, but can't.  When the elephant grows up, the chain is around its leg tied to a stake in the ground that could be easily pulled out, but the elephant doesn't even try.  The elephant learned as a baby that it is futile.  That's very sad, if you think about it.

We use a similar philosophy with Elsie and the breaking halter tied to the post.  The idea is that she'll learn after pulling against the post for quite some time, that it is futile.  She must be taught that the post is stronger than she is.  She eventually learns this.  For the time being, she'll pull and pull.

We gently rub her neck and behind her ears, talking to her gently.  Eventually, she doesn't pull as tightly against the post and allows some slack in the rope.  It is more comfortable for her, she learns, if she doesn't pull against it.

What we're trying to achieve, and will eventually get there, is for her to be able to be led on a rope without fighting and pulling against us.  I can identify with Elsie in some sense.  I can be hard headed and stubbornly pull against metaphorical lead ropes in my life on most days!  It is easier to halter break a calf when they are young.  We will keep working with her until she gets it.  I am confident she will.

Learning to Share

Through Him then, let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips praising His name.  And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.  - Hebrews 13:15-16

I'm not a psychologist, but I firmly believe that the act of sharing is not a natural thing.  It is not the default.  As humans, we tend to gravitate toward selfishness.  It's sad, but true.  It is part of the human condition since the fall of Man and sin entered the world.  Now, we must be taught to share.  We are to love our neighbor as ourselves, right?

Believe it or not, animals need to be taught to share as well.  Just like humans, it is often against their will.  I'll show you our nightly ritual, in which we forcefully teach Elsie to share.  Elsie is our little Jersey heifer just born to Clarabelle.  Clarabelle produces more milk than Elsie can drink.  Clarabelle's production of milk is based on the principle of supply and demand.  

We keep milk cows so that we can drink the milk too.  In order for Elsie to get her milk and us to get some too, we've instituted a formal schedule.  Here's how it goes.  Ever since Elsie had been a week old and enjoyed the colostrum, Elsie has had full access to Clarabelle and her milk all day long.  In the evening, we bring both Clarabelle and Elsie into the barn.

Clarabelle is given hay and we milk her out completely.  Hopefully, Elsie has gotten all the milk she wanted because if not, she's going to bed without supper.

You can notice below that Clarabelle's bag is now empty after milking.  The next step is moving the bench, unhobbling Clarabell's leg, and leading her out of the barn.

We lead Clarabelle out rather quickly as Elsie wants to be with her momma.  We distract Elsie, lead her out and close the barn door.

And here is what happens next.  Poor Elsie sadly, longingly looks out of the gate.  She'll spend the night in the barn.  Her momma will spend the night outside the barn, making milk for us.

The first thing in the morning, we tie Elsie up, lead Clarabelle in and milk her out into a clean, stainless steel bucket.  Once done, we put them together for the day.  As Clarabelle makes milk, Elsie drinks it.  We share with one another and we BOTH benefit.  There are few win-win situations in life, but here's one of them.  

Blow Your Horn

I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. - Daniel 7:8

In the Book of Daniel, the Prophet has visions.  One of them (the verse above) talks about horns.  They aren't literal horns, however.  These horns were plucked up by the roots. 

On Our Maker's Acres Family Farm, it was time we plucked up some horns by the roots - literal horns.  Little Elsie has some tiny horn buds that are starting to grow.  Before they get bigger, at about two weeks, it is time to pluck them out by the roots or at least kill the roots that grow the horns.  In the past we've used De-horning paste.  We've also gone the surgical route.  Recently, we've purchased a De-horning iron to be used for goats and calves.  It worked beautifully on the goats and it is time to see how it works on Elsie.

The first order of business is to catch Elsie, put a halter on her, bring her to the ground and sit on her in order to de-mobilize her, somewhat.  Then, I use clippers to clip the hair out of the way of the horns so that I can see the horn buds.

I am pointing to the horn bud.  You can barely see it, but shortly, it will get bigger and bigger.  For safety of us and the safety of other animals, we don't like our animals having horns.  Some people have different opinions on that, and I respect that, but for us, we've found it's better to remove them.  It is not a pleasant experience for us or the animal, but it must be done.

Once we've shaved the area around the horn buds, we plug in the Electric De-Horning Device.  The end of the iron gets hot.  It gets cherry red.  We wear gloves for this procedure.

While securely holding Elsie down, we hold the de-horning iron around the horn bud for about 3 seconds.  This will hurt initially, but will deaden the nerves for the remainder of the procedure.  We then hold it down for 8 - 10 seconds, until we see a copper colored circle around the horn bud.  This will kill the roots of the horn and inhibit any growth.  If not complete, we'll do it for a little longer.  Then we use the iron the burn the horn bud itself in the center.

Then we repeat the same thing on the other horn.  

She doesn't like it for sure, but in no time flat she's up at the side of her momma.

She's probably a little hot-headed, but by the morning, everything is normal and she'll grow up without horns - an unpleasant process that yields a pleasant outcome.

Introducing "Elsie"

Clarabelle, our Jersey Milk Cow, was due to calve around April 10th according to our record-keeping.  As time stretched on during the nine month gestation period, we wondered from time to time if she was pregnant.  Over the past week or so, we could tell that she indeed was due to the "blossom" of her bag.  Yesterday Tricia said, "I bet it's gonna be tomorrow."  She was right!

Shortly after 1 pm she sent me the following photos with a text that said, "I think we have a heifer!"  And we do.  As I stated before, I had a stern talk with Clarabelle the other day.  Both she and Rosie have given us nothing but bulls the past several years.  It is time for a girl.  Clarabelle gave us one.  

We began thinking of a name for the little one.  First, due to her color, I thought 'Honey' would be a nice name, but I also call my wife that.  That would be confusing.  Tonight we began tossing around names.  I liked Buttercup, but Tricia said that had too many syllables.  We settled on "Elsie." Elsie was the spokeswoman mascot for Borden milk.  That seemed like a nice name for the little one.

It is always very important for the calf to get colostrum the first day for health and antibodies to give strength and fight off sickness.  

Elsie is a cute little thing - solid brown, with big liquid eyes.  She spends most of her time sleeping, but she was very quick to get up on her feet.

We are always very protective of our barnyard babies, nervous that the cows will accidentally step on them or the chickens will peck at them.  I always want to help with the labor and delivery, but nine times out of ten, it is best to just let the animals be.  God created them and He knows what He's doing.  

Clarabelle was very weak when she was born.  It was a challenge to make her nurse and hard to get her to even stand up.  Although strong, we are seeing some of the same things with Elsie.  We are keeping our eyes on her and will update you more about Elsie's progress on Sunday Night.