I was told many times that if you have "livestock" you will then have "deadstock".
Life and death on the farm is so apparent and "in your face".   The little calf that Polly had did not survive the weekend!  Now we need to take a good look at Polly.  She appeared to be caring for her baby, like the good mom she is, and it certainly looked like the baby was nursing effortlessly. But that must not have been the case. :-(
Her front two teats were large and full of milk and the back two shrivelled as if the baby had been nursing regularly.  We are not sure, but perhaps they were actually non-functioning. Neil doesn't want to take the risk just now to approach Polly and check her out. She is very skittish.  Hasn't been a very good year so far. Kileedy had a baby which we had to pass on to Mark to care for as she cannot nurse at all and now Polly.
Neil has decided to cross breed our Highlands with one of Dave's Angus.  They do not have horns, making them a bit easier to handle. We don't have any bulls on our property just now.  We have loaned our big, black bull Rembrandt,  to Joanne and I am happy he is not here anyway. He is too hard to control and loves to go wherever he wants, through fences at will. 

The weather is finally becoming more spring-like with temperatures expected to be in the low twenties this afternoon.  But with the warm temperatures comes rain! Oh well, better than freezing rain and snow!

Highland Cattle are amazing!  One minute you have twenty cows and the next twenty-one!  The moms do it all by themselves.  Today, Polly had a baby boy!  He is sooo cute.  (Aren't all baby animals cute though.)  

It is still rathar cool out so hopefully Polly will keep the baby sheltered a bit. But he does seem energetic. We watched him nurse a few times so we know, he knows what to do!

The Saturday before Easter, Neil decided that we needed a night away from the farm. He had spoken with his sister earlier and arranged a hotel room at Four Points by Sherton in Niagara Falls.  It is attached to Casino Niagara.  The booking included a show that evening and we were looking forward to it and some gambling and a nice meal out.

I was supposed to be getting things ready to go while Neil took Alex to the club. Kathryn would be driving him home later.  When I went to the barn, I found Rascal to be really subdued.  For a kitten, this can be quite obvious.  I was concerned so when Neil arrived home, I gave him a "puppy dog" face and said I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving her at home without getting her checked out.  After speaking to the folks at the Copetown Vet - they directed us to the Brant Emergency Animal Hospital.  Off we went, Rascal stowed in a makeshift cat-carrier. (A rubbermaid container with holes drilled in the top.)  I was convinced she wasn't getting enough hair so I can removing the lid a bit and then she would stick her paws out!   I started speaking to her to try and comfort her and she answered back, until Neil had had enough of all the meowing and asked me to stop.

We were glad they could see her right away, since we were supposed to be on our way to Niagara Falls to meet up with Moira and Robi!  Turns out she was bitten by a cat!  Not likely one of her litter mates but she got an abscess and had a high fever.   They shaved the area and cleaned the wound.  They also gave her antibiotics and some pain reliever. The total cost around $225.00!  (I knew then that I better not spend much at the Casino!)  They did not have a rabies shot on hand so we have still not got that done yet, nor got her spayed yet.   Anyway, we brought her home and put her in a rabbit cage and got on our way to the Falls!   Kathryn was given instructions on the whole
situation.

Poor Rascal - hope she gets her hair back soon!

Mother Midnight and her three baby girls: Rascal, Mulan & Patches.
Yes, they are feral and we named them...and feed them regularly....hmm...