Posey and I had a breakthrough yesterday, and this morning I milked 5 quarts of milk from my pretty little cow. What a lovely task, truly. In spite of the dirt and the muck and the hands cramping. Head leaned against her warm flank, chickens and cats waiting for treats, Josie checking on me from time to time, and Posey’s contented and comfortable sounds, while the white milk hisses and foams into the bucket.
And her cream in my coffee in the morning? Divine.
Calves shipped today! It is satisfying and bittersweet, sorting and weaning and shipping, seeing a year come to a close, sending off two potloads of animals that have been under our care their entire lives.
I am so thankful for family and community, for good calf prices, for safety working, for beautiful weather and fellowship over a meal afterwards.
I really do love animals. I love the caring for them, learning their personalities, working with them, partnering with them, and earning their trust.
We had a beautiful Sunday. Chores and church in the morning, and a good ride moving grouchy cows to get them positioned for shipping calves tomorrow. A comical gathering-up of a stubborn steer. And all punctuated by my animals.
Posey loves apples, by the way.
Spent the day at the Winter Popup Market at the Monument Civic Center, with my photography and gift items. Connected with a lot of neat people, spent time with my mother, and when I got home my kind husband already had the cow milked and chores done. So we enjoyed a quiet evening while I doctored and fed some kittens.
It doesn’t get much cuter…
It was a good day. The kittens are enjoying their extra feedings, my piano students did tolerably well (actually they did great), I got the last errands run in preparation for the Winter Market on Saturday, and for cow work next week, and….
….This pretty girl showed up in our corrals this evening! You should have seen my face!
I had been researching milk cows for awhile, and a neighbor kept this Jersey x Guernsey girl and her mom as nurse cows, but were ready to get out of that. I couldn’t have been more surprised when Brad drove into the yard with Posey in his trailer! Pretty sure my smile was ear-to-ear! She is still lactating but is ready to be dried off soon, and should calve in April!
I hate watching animals die, or suffer. They don’t have the capacity to understand what’s happening to them, so fear sets in when they are in pain. Sometimes you can help. Sometimes the only merciful thing to do is to end their pain in a very final sort of way, which is a miserable call to have to make.
I found one of the kittens this morning almost unresponsive, limp as a rag, mouth kind of hanging open, with the death look in his little eyes. He is one of the bigger kittens, and yesterday was healthy and vibrant. I ran up to the house with him, got him warm, tried to give a little molasses water, and was afraid I was watching him die.
A little frantic racking of my brain and consulting Google, and he responded almost instantaneously to Caro syrup in his cheek, and quickly was ready for calf milk replacer. A few hours later and you’d never know anything was wrong! The kittens will officially be getting supplemental milk until they take to kibble.
This is one of many times I’ve been thankful for the medical training I have. God’s creation is beautifully organized, and His warm blooded, four-footed critters operate about the same as His two-legged critters.
I hate watching animals die. So I’m thankful I didn’t have to.
Song Dog Journal 