About Zoe

Zoe has a special place in our hearts. Zoe is a minor human interest story and proof of the extreme lengths farmers go to in taking care of our herds.

Zoe is pictured here wrapped in one of Vicki’s precious afghan blankets and nestled inside one of our cattle water tubs. The tub was moved into our heated basement where Zoe took up residence for several weeks.

Zoe had a twin brother named Zack. Zoe and Zack were born on a miserable, cold, wet, overcast day in April, 2018. Rain fell from the sky as Vicki and I headed out into the pasture looking for new born calves. We soon noticed a suspicious looking cow at the extreme far end of our calving pasture. Cattle often move away from the main herd to have their calves in privacy. Plowing through the deep mud and rut filled pasture, we wondered if the lone cow was guarding a new born calf. About halfway out there, our Kubota tractor struggling in the mud, we noticed a calf on the ground near our cow Isabelle. We tagged the new born calf, dipped its naval in accordance with standard calving procedures and gave it a shot of vitamins. We started to load the new born bull into the tractor’s front end loader, when Reevie noticed a moving lump of black, smack in the middle of a mud puddle, 50 yards away. Vicki struggled to keep Zack in the front end loader, while Reevie ran to the puddle and discovered Zoe.

Zoe was freezing, cold to the touch, and shaking uncontrollably. Her body had dropped to a dangerously low temperature. Zoe had been ignored by her mother and had not nursed. Isabelle made a choice to care for the more healthy calf, Zack. Reevie carried Zoe to the tractor mud and all. It was unlikely Zoe would live, but she deserved her chance for a place in our herd. Zack went into the cow barn and began to thrive with his mother, Isabelle. Zoe, however, went into our home and right into the bath tub. Zoe was bathed in warm water for 45 minutes to warm her and bring her body temperature up. The mud was cleaned off , clogging our bath tub drain. Once toasty, Zoe was bottle fed and placed next to our warm wood stove. After several days of Vicki’s mothering care Zoe began to thrive.

Unfortunately Zoe never thrived as much as the other calves. Although she was able to return to the herd with her mother and twin brother, she always seemed underweight and sickly. Sometime in the early summer Zoe passed away. We had lots of fun with Zoe and she created fond memories for us. Zoe will always have a place in our hearts here at Pebble Mountain.