Notes from the Chief (should probably be called, “What’s Going On With the Cows)….   We had our first regularly scheduled calf this week. 

Regularly scheduled means within a week to a few days of the due date. Heifers were due on Wednesday and the first on popped out on Monday evening about 9 p.m.. It was a rather pleasant evening and the little one was on a nice bit of bedding and mama was licking the afterbirth up like a lollipop. The next morning the little one, a heifer from cow 20-10 was frisking about and having breakfast from mom. 

Later that day something just wasn’t right. I looked at the little one nursing on mama and it looked like she was trying way too hard for her meal. It did not look like a normal nursing situation. 

Mama and baby were moved to the corral and we put mama in the head chute. Can you guess what we found?  My expert herdmanship eye realized that mama did not have any milk. 

After getting her in the head gate, this was confirmed. Now what?  We did not know how much colostrum the baby had gotten so I mixed up a bottle of colostrum milk replacer. 

Now this little calf was going to town on moms mammary’s, but would not give the time of day to this bottle with nice warm colostrum supplement. 

Finally, after a half hour or so, the little calf was able to down most of the bottle, about 3 pints. 

The next morning she drank a couple pints. Wednesday evening was 3 more pints and Thursday morning was a full bottle of 2 quarts. We will keep feeding the little one and hopefully mama will come in with her milk. If not, mama will be sent down the road and end up on your plate as a juicy hamburger. This is not the most ideal situation, but that is life on the farm.

Friday, March 11

7:52 a.m. Assist with a vehicle off the road on US Hwy 10.

8:39 a.m. Assist with a medical.

11:41 a.m. Female requesting a welfare check on her mother. Officer talked with female who had just been told by family that her mother had passed away a few weeks ago. Family and police tried to notify estranged sibling, but could not make contact.

3:34 p.m. Vehicle unlock on W Main Ave.

3:42 p.m. Assist with a one vehicle rollover on Co Hwy 29 just north of town.

11:36 p.m. Report of a male subject making threats. Sheldon Whitaker, 26, Frazee arrested for disorderly conduct.

Saturday, March 12

2:33 p.m. Report of a loose dog on W Maple Ave. UTL.

3:55 p.m. Report that some kids dug out a stuck snowmobile and brought it home. Snowmobile was tracked down and actually belonged to the owner of the property it was found at. Owner picked up snowmobile from kids in town.

4:03 p.m. Domestic incident on E Main Ave. with male and female arguing. Male and one child left the situation and moved back to Minneapolis.

3:20 p.m. Report from a landlord that his house is trashed and he has pictures. Tenants are being evicted. Landlord was advised the matter is a civil issue.

Sunday, March 13

7:09 p.m. Father calling in that his teenage daughter hasn’t returned from moms. Another civil issue. Dad was going to wait to see if the daughter made it to school the next day and go from there.

7:45 p.m. Ongoing neighbor issues. Officer negotiated a plan to help keep the peace.

11 p.m. Male flagged down officer to let him know his wife came home, locked herself in the bathroom, emerged and told the husband she just drank half a gallon of bleach. Wife then took off walking. Officer and deputies checked around town, but could not find the female. Female with the “extra clean” esophageal tract was causing issues a day or two later in DL.

11:23 p.m. Assist with a medical.

Monday, March 14

11:11 p.m. Traffic complaint on E Maple Ave. Jade Brave, 19, Detroit Lakes arrested for DWI. Brave also charged with criminal damage to property for damaging squad car while on the way to jail.

Tuesday, March 15

2:11 p.m. Report of ongoing harassment between neighbors on Rivercrest Drive.

6:12 p.m. Party from above served restraining orders papers.

Wednesday, March 16

9:31 a.m. Female requesting a civil standby while she retrieves property from her house.

4:09 p.m. Disturbance between teenage siblings. Parties agreed to keep it civil.

4:48 p.m. Disturbance between above siblings with one being the main issue. Teenager causing the issues was placed on a shelter care hold.

6:07 p.m. Fire alarm at the high school. No signs of smoke, more of a system malfunction.

Thursday, March 17

10:09 a.m. Assist with a medical.

5:38 p.m. Report that a male was posting on social media that he was looking for a gun ASAP and has photos of a baby and kid stuff that he can trade for the gun. Officer talked with the male and he said he was using the talk to text app on his phone and it misprinted what he meant to say. Male had no desire to get a gun or to cause harm to anyone.