Casey Faircloth (back left) gives two thumbs up as farmer and volunteer firefighter Craig Sash (center) works alongside other volunteers to rescue the Faircloths’ bloated calf named S’mores on Friday, July 18, during the Tama County Fair in Gladbrook. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

GLADBROOK – Thanks to the efforts of some quick-thinking volunteers including two from Gladbrook Fire & Rescue, a Faircloth Farms Angus steer calf named S’mores is enjoying a new lease on life after ending up badly bloated on Friday, July 18, at the Tama County Fair.

“Friday was a rough day for us as S’mores got bloated and had a tough go for a while,” Casey Faircloth of rural Toledo wrote on social media of her daughter Peyton’s calf. “Alfalfa [and] clover was too rich for him.”

Mid-morning Friday, volunteer firefighter Doug Bruene, who also volunteers as both the fair’s beef superintendent and fair president, noted the bloat and set about securing help.

“Doug Bruene happened to find me to ask if I’d seen [fair veterinarian] Nicole [Knaack], so she could check the calf,” farmer Craig Sash, another volunteer with Gladbrook Fire & Rescue, told the newspaper Friday evening. “We then went to investigate and the calf was obviously in pretty big trouble and needed help quickly.”

Any bloated animal – cow, sheep, goat, or otherwise – is a serious issue. According to Michigan State University Extension, “Bloat is a digestive disorder that results from the accumulation of excessive gas within the rumen and can lead to death of the animal by asphyxiation.” Treatment of bloat can include placing a hose or tube in the animal’s mouth, “allowing them to swallow it so it passes through the esophagus and into the rumen.” And that’s just what Bruene, Sash, rabbit superintendent/fair board member Nathan Upah, and Trey Winkowitsch undertook Friday morning to save S’mores.

“I have had to deal with bloated calves before but never one that size,” Sash continued, “usually happens to bigger ones.”

Although it took some time, S’mores eventually recovered and, by noon, the young black calf was being led around the fair by Faircloth and her husband Joel – who also assisted with the rescue – to work out even more gas.

“We are just so thankful,” Faircloth said of the volunteers as S’mores stood nearby Friday in the barn, still looking a bit peaked but alert. “I don’t know what we would have done without them. Gladbrook Fire can do anything!”

In her subsequent update post on Facebook, Faircloth indicated that by Saturday morning S’mores was “back to himself.”

As for his part in the rescue, Sash, a father of five Tama County 4-H members, downplayed the heroics, telling the newspaper, “Please thank all volunteers that help at the fair. Everyone takes time from their schedule to help make it a success. It’s also great to have knowledgeable and willing livestock producers to lend a hand in situations like this when needed.”

“And absolutely thank Dr. Nicole Knaack who puts in a lot of time and effort and probably gets overlooked just as much as everyone else! Even though she wasn’t there for the calf [rescue], she puts in a ton of time [at fair] and still has other calls to make.”

Burning buildings, bloated calves – all in a day’s work for the many volunteers who put in the time to make Tama County’s fair truly one of the best in the state.