Lost & Found

With three of her four kids having been sold as bottle babies, Millie was understandably worried that her remaining kid was going to disappear too.   Her fear is ultimately what caused her remaining kid to be taken from her and raised as a bottle baby. 

Millie hid Choc-o-latte yesterday evening and didn't give in and call her to reveal herself until it was full dark.   When we found her in the bottom pasture she was wet and chilled from a light rain and obviously hadn't eaten in quite a while.   Took her to the house to get warm and dry and gave her a bottle for the first time in her life.   She glugged down a good portion and then snuggled in to sleep on my lap.   I decided at that point that we just couldn't risk Millie doing that again.  Granted the baby was hard for us to find, but I'm not so sure she would have been that difficult for a coyote to find.   Plus the fact that she was chilled and hungry led me to go ahead and make her a bottle baby.  

And since Itty-Bitty is the only other kid from this year that we are retaining it meant Itty-Bitty was weaned earlier than I had planned on so that Choc-o-latte will have company.    And the bright side, they will both hopefully become more bonded to us since they are the two kids from this year that seem to be the most independent minded just like their dams.

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Choc-o-latte playing on her dam yesterday afternoon before she was hidden out in the field.