Lame in Paradise

[jamshundred]

The two main men at Paradise farm are now both lame!  Brenn continues to heal from that pesky foot injury that Gene has fretted about for months. . . . and now. . . . Gene himself is laid up in hospital in Virginia with an ugly break of his femur which will sideline him for many weeks to come. Good wishes, prayers, blessings. . . . . all are needed and welcome in hopes one of the best friends a Dexter could ever wish for. . . speeds through this latest challenge for a record recovery.



Gene was injured on his farm on Thursday from a fall while working on equipment, and had surgery to repair the damage yesterday afternoon.
 


Judy

[wvdexters]

Gene,

Our thoughts and prayers are with you for many blessings and a full recovery. You have always been so kind and helpful to me, a true friend. You are missed, so take good care and soon you will be back on here with us. Talking away and having fun.

[lonecowhand]

Gene,
Sorry to hear of your injury. Here's wishing you a quick recovery from the left side of the country. We're going to miss you if you don't write while you are supposed to stay down, so have someone get you a laptop!
Truly, we all want you to do what they tell you and get well soon.

[lakeportfarms]

I was so sorry to hear of Gene's injury. We'll miss having him online for a while but don't rush back and push yourself too hard Gene, get some well deserved rest and recovery first and foremost! And a big thanks to Judy and others who are helping to look after the things they can help with which I'm sure helps keep Gene's mind a little more at ease.

[morningstarfarm]

We are praying for a speedy and complete recovery for Gene also. Follow doctors orders but I hoping for someone to get a laptop to him as well. We will miss his posts while he is recovering.

[Deleted]

get well Gene
Don't ride any more steers for a while

[Donlin Stud]

Thinking of you Gene.

Hope your partner is ok with all that needs to done around the place. ( our list never stops growing )

Get well really soon and get home before the moos miss you too.

[Deleted]

Our prayers and thoughts with you Gene. Prayer for your
caregivers also.

[jamshundred]

UPDATE -    9-23-2014

Gene has been moved to a rehabiliation facility where he will start physical therapy on the leg/hip.  It is going to be a long haul!   If you would like to send a card;

HealthSouth
Gene Bowen
Room 100B
95 Medical Park Blvd
Petersburg Va  23805


Judy

[Deleted]

I guess by post that Gene got home or got a laptop anyway
Welcome back and I pray all I is going as will as expected.

[jamshundred]

Not home yet.  . . . but it is exciting to know that he has a keyboard beneath his fingers and is using it ! !   Great to see those posts Gene!  If Kirk cannot get the muscles twitching on you.  . nobody can.  LOL! ! 
( Sorry Kirk - I actually enjoy the opportunity to "discuss" our differences of opinion - because there is a whole pond out there of folks who have been buying the bull. .  . . . . about chondro. . . and need to know they would NOT have a Dexter in their pasture without it's existance.

Judy

[genebo]

Many thanks to those who expressed such kind sentiments after my accident. Thanks to them I have held a high level of enthusiasm for recovery.

I finally got to come home to Paradise Farm, where my bride had taken over all the chores, to keep things running. I can't help her, yet, but am anxiously looking forward to the time that I can. I was able to fix lunch today while she did chores. Just grilled cheese and soup, but who would have suspected that I had such skills?

She took me for a ride in the Mule this afternoon. We saw Bambi and McBrenn in the isolation pen, waiting for Bamb to be AI'd on Wednesday. We rode around the pastures checking the grass to see how long I judge it will last this winter. It's in pretty good shape.

Then we visited Brenn. I had spent hours worrying about him while I was in the hospital. Reports were that his hurt leg was getting the best of him. They said he was spending a lot of time in the same location and wasn't grazing enough. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had been all over the pastures today and his belly was full. He stod up from cudding to greet us and my bride rewarded him with a dozen bread slices. Brenn loves bread. I was thrilled to see him looking so good.

He has a bad injury to his left front leg that he kept ignoring whenever a cow would come into heat, thereby reinjuring himself. This time Bambi is locked up in the isolation pen, so he shouldn't reinjure his leg this time. I'm having Bambi AI'd so she won't come into heat and entice him to injure himself any more for a long time, so he can heal.

My computer is upstairs, which is off-limits to me. I have an old, obsolete laptop that I'm writing this on. Woo-Hoo! It wouldn't matter if I could get to my computer. There are so many phone calls and visitors that there aren't enough hours in a day to do everything.

Just let me repeat my thanks to each and every one of you for the encouraging words. I love you all.

[lakeportfarms]

Welcome back home Gene! I hope you have the place where you'll spend most of your time during your recovery facing out a window toward the pasture where you can watch your Dexters throughout the day  

[lonecowhand]

Glad you are back, Genebo, with both you and Brenn recouperating nicely. Happy for you and your bride. Yay!

[Deleted]

Welcome home Gene! You and your bride are still in our prayers.
Maybe you bride would consider a room for you and Brenn so you
can comfort each other Ha!

[genebo]

My surgeon said I'm doing great, but he still won't give me permission to put any weight on the leg for another 5 weeks. Boo! Hiss!

In the meantime, my darling bride continues to carry the load. A good job for a city girl! Two of my neighbors continue to help out. Dave fixed the fence the other day when a tree fell across it.

[morningstarfarm]

Gene, glad to hear you are healing well. There is no bigger blessing than good neighbors. Tell your lovely wife that we said hello.

[genebo]

Dave, my neighbor that is filling in for me, says that Brenn changes his behavior whenever I come around.

Dave puts brenn's feed bucket about 10 feet away from Brenn, so he has to walk to get it. It lets Dave see how well he's doing that day. Brenn always shakes his head side to side at first, as if he's not going to move. Then he does.

When I come around and park the mule, Brenn walks to me and puts his mouth right next to my arm, sniffing. I can reach the back of his head, so I give him a few scratches. Then I feed him bread.

Dave thinks that Brenn and I have a tight bond. He has to be right. I was there when Brenn was born and we have only been apart once, when he went to breed Amy Hayner's herd of dairy cows when he was 7 months old. He was gone 2 months while I sold Stillwater's Ryder and made room for Brenn to come home and be the herd bull. We haven't been apart since then.

Yesterday Brenn was in the middle of the pasture. I drove the Mule to the mailbox and Brenn turned to watch me both going and coming.

I sure do like that bull, and I think he likes me, too.

[wvdexters]

It is so good that you have such wonderful friends for neighbors Gene. A true blessing.

It's so good to see the relationship you and Brenn share. He's such a good fellow. I'll bet he's every bit as excited to see you as you are to see him. I'm hoping his grandson turns out just like him.

[genebo]

I'm part way healed! Yesterday the doctor took X-rays and decided that I could begin putting my weight on the leg. I still have to use a walker or a cane, but it does give me a little more freedom.

I took advantage of the new rules today by driving to my old shop's Christmas party. I used a cane once I got there. It was clumsy and I tired out before the party was over. The 2 hour drive home was tedious.

But when we got home, our neighbor who has been helping with the animals arrived just behind us. The animals cooperated nicely and all got fed. Those that needed it got locked up.

One sad thing was that a hawk got one of the Muscovy ducklings while we were gone. We saw the pile of feathers on our way in. Mama duck hatched out 8 ducklings after I got hurt. I was sort of equating their survival to my getting well. The ducklings disappeared one by one until she only had 3 left. The last 3 seemed to be tough. I figured they were now big enough to survive. I was wrong. Something like this happens quite often whenever we're away for a whole day. The 2 remaining ducklings are now all the more precious to us.

Our helper neighbor was devastated. She wanted to take the last ones home to keep them safe.

It's a part of farm life. The part I like the least.

Brenn, Bambi, Bambina, Eve, McBrenn and Jackson got an extra ration of hay tonight. Our way of making up for not being here when the duckling was in danger. Lucky cattle.

Brenn was waiting for me when I got to the pasture gate. I fed him his favorite treat, bread. I walked to the hay barn with my cane and threw a little bit of hay over the fence for Eve, so I could see if she is showing signs of her impending calving, but she didn't get it. Brenn had followed me along the fence and dug right into the hay I pitched over for her. Babe and my neighbor pitched hay to the rest, so that Eve and the rest got some. Even Jackson, the butthead steer!

[lakeportfarms]

That's great to hear Gene!  I bet it felt good to get back out there with your herd, and it will soon be a regular part of your day again.

[genebo]

I'm really anxious to get out with McBrenn. He's 7 months old now and I haven't had a chance to bond with him the way I'd like to. Even at 7 months old, he still hangs close to his mama. Twice I'ce seen him pushing heads with Brenn, but I would have expected more of that at his age. He comes to the gate with Bambi and sticks his mouth through, like he wants to be fed some bread, but it's almost as if he doesn't know how to eat it. He sniffs it first, then rubs his nose on it, and by that time, Bambi has taken it away and eaten it.

Babe and I brought home a new molasses tub, because we had a coupon for $25 off! It's a 200# 24% protein tub. I hade the guy at the feed store put it in my truck right next to the tailgate. We drove to the center of the pasture and Babe pulled it off of the tailgate, Kerplop! She righted it and pulled off the packaging and away we went, just as the Dexters were arriving. We didn't want Jackson jousting with my truck like he does with the Mule.

I had to bury Chester, our oldest Antwerp Belgium rooster this morning. He was 6 years old and had contributed a lot of his genes to my chicken flock over the years. We were down to our last purebred Antwerp Belgium hen when we started saving the offspring from the two of them. Now we have a rooster, Little Red, and 4 hens to carry on the bloodline. We used Chester and various Old English bantam roosters to give our chickens the gift of flight. The hybrid chickens from these roosters can fly back to the safety of the barn ahead of the chickens that can't fly, so they survive longer. The hawk takes the hindmost.

At noon today I spotted the whole herd of Dexters down at the low pasture drinking tank, so I took them a bale of some really good dry hay for a treat. I have one more paddock that they haven't been in since it started turning cold. I will let them in there as a Christmas gift to them. Maybe by then I can handle a camera and get a picture or video of them going into new grass.