Cow HOT TUB! Cow #118 has a bad morning... gets rehabilitation.

There are some really good days on the farm... when a new heifer calf is born, the smell of freshly cut hay, and seeing the crops pop out of the ground in spring, just to name a few.  The bad days come right along with the good ones.  The bad days also seem to come in streaks.  The hay gets rained on... the tractor gets STUCK... and the list goes on.. and on.....

This morning, something went wrong with one of our really good cows, 118.   Some cows have names, some have numbers.  Each cow has some sort of identification so we can keep good health records.  As the rest of the cows walked to get milked this morning, 118 just layed in her stall.  She couldn't get up.  Somehow, she had injured her back leg.  She could get up but could not stay standing for any period of time.  After we looked at her closer, we realized that nothing was broken (thank you lord!) but there was some nerve damage in the leg.  This is a terrible injury for a cow because the majority of her weight is carried on her back legs.  Its also very difficult to rehabiliate an animal of this size.  Imagine if you had a pet elephant, crazy analogy.. I know, and it was injured.  Animals of this size present quite the challenge. 

So what now?  What happens to 118?  Well.  118 goes into the "float tank."  Cows float and can swim, and some intelligent person decided to use this to help cows like this.  In the "float tank," warm water is used to float the cow and help with rehabilitation.  We own a float tank, but you can have someone come to your farm with the warm water and tank.  It usually costs $300 - $500 a "float", depending on traveling distance. 

Here is a video of 118 in her hot tub:

The rest of the cows are of course, checking out the situation.

118 will stay in the float tank until tomorrow.  We will then let her out and see how she is doing.  If necessary, she will have to be "floated" again.  Until then... 118 gets to sit in the hot tub.  Im jealous!  I have to do chores tonight! :)