HoofsnHorns Farm Sanctuary
Austin our own texas longhorn
A chilly afternoon in March on a quest for a good deal on hay I was in the right place at the right time when we first saw him laying behind his mother, newly born, tiny
searching for the owner of the cows proved unhelpful as he wasn't very concerned about the tiny calf wriggling around on the dirty hard ground as several large long horned cows tried to paw and nudge him to stand
he could not
if he could stand he will still fall short of being able to nurse his own mother, if he lived that long
later that evening we got the call to come and pick him up, he still had not stood on his own
estimating he was two months premature, the rancher gave him to us, by now, armed with warm milk, raw honey and a warm blankets..
by the time we made the trip home the dirty, cold tiny frail little body began to warm and he began to swallow by midnight he could suck the bottle
on his third day here, Austin weighed just 19 pounds
less than half the size of even a mini calf..
Austin lived in the house, was kept warm and fed and soon he was finally able to stand.. his fur thickened, his hooves hardened and he eventually had a little body fat.. but it took awhile to actually have a little cow tail ...he lived and played with dogs and goats and Petunia the pig and was quite the spoiled little house cow
it was such a blessing that he survived and thrived and he has grown into a beautiful sweet big fella who loves treats and visitors
