It's been extremely hot and humid here, which has been concerning as far as the calves born this week go. When we checked them last night, both were showing mild signs of distress. While it didn't start off as hot this morning, we wanted to make sure neither of them were getting weak. It took a bit to even locate Edith's; he was laying deep in the hay, curled up in a very odd position. Edith remained composed while I nudged him, but he showed no interest in standing. I finally started lifting him, trying to get him to get his legs up underneath him. Eventually he did, leaning against me until he gained enough balance to stand on his own. Then Edith led him away from me, and patiently tolerated him trying to nurse until he got a good latch.
Patsy Cline's calf was also down, but had a bright expression in those bugged out eyes of his (he looks just like his mother). Even though we weren't necessarily concerned, we still thought it'd be a good idea to make sure he was able to get up and walk okay. Since Patsy is not nearly as laid back as Edith, we were hopeful that just approaching him would be enough incentive for him to stand. When it wasn't, John reached down to touch him, and Patsy said, "You don't want to do that."
After John took a couple of steps back, Patsy turned to walk away. Taking the opportunity of her back being turned, John reached out to gently nudge him with his boot. But no sooner had the tip of his big toe made contact with the little bull, Patsy swung back around.
"DID I FUCKING STUTTER?"
We decided he was probably fine, and we wanted to remain fine, too, so we left it at that. When we went to check them tonight, they both seemed to be getting along well. I'm hopeful they're over the hump, and that even if the weather doesn't break soon they will both be strong enough to have developed some resistance to the heat (although a break would certainly be appreciated, for everyone's sake).