mama's & calves in the spring time

                All these baby calves and mama cows.  It is a beautiful, bountiful spring.

Prunella and her Bull calf  

Prunella and Labora are the star cows for now.  They are young, small, and doing excellent work raising their babies.  Out in the pasture yesterday, we looked closely at their udders and saw no signs of trouble.  All quarters looked even and overall their udders are not tight.  It appears that the their calves are nursing on all four teats and keeping their mom's problem free.  So we still have not brought either one of them up to the milk house.  That will come with time.  I look forward to interacting with them both.

Labora and her Bull calf  

Morgana's calf has perked right up and appears to have declared that he will LIVE!  He nursed on Morgana that morning in the holding pen after the previous night's dose of colostrum from Isabelle.  We sent him out with his mom that morning.  That evening we saw him alone in the barn but Morgana was soon there to feed him.  We watched him latch on to her teat independently and felt confident that they needed no more assistance from the humans.  The next day he was way out in the pasture with her, walking well and even running a bit with his tail in the air.  The little guy has embraced life beautifully. Morgana is a patient, attentive mother for him.  It is a joy to see.

Morgana and her Bull calf - SURVIVOR!  

I milked Sweetie yesterday without the kickers and without any fuss or bother from her.  She's really quite pleasant to milk on some days.  Miguel milked Whitney from her side (not behind), but still with the kickers on.  She will get used to us milking her eventually.  Probably...
        Isabelle is an interesting case.  I remain hopeful for her and her calf.  When her calf did not stand or walk much on his 2nd day, we brought him up to the yard to be cared for and fed by the humans.  Isabelle's udder is difficult if not impossible for him to nurse from.  She allowed him to remain with us without any protest.  That is unusual and not an encouraging sign for either one of them.  We fed him two more feedings with her colostrum.  One of these he took from a bottle and the 2nd one he was so weak that we used the tube and feed bag.
On his third day he still walked only a few steps independently.  Other calves that same age would be running and frolicking in the pasture.   We decided to move him out of the yard with us and to a place along the lane where he could be with Isabelle.  We kept feeding him with the bottle.
         Isabelle has been dropping huge amounts of weight and her bones are sticking out dramatically.   We decided that possibly she was terribly depressed and wondered if her colostrum was contributing to her calf's lack of spunk.  We fed him a bottle of milk from the other cows .   Ten hours after that feeding he was on his feet unassisted and looking a bit better.
           Yesterday we found Isabelle in the barn with her head low.  She looked really bad.   We walked the still improving calf to her and she came out of the barn and showed interest in him, mooing softly and licking him all over.  He took a bottle of milk from the other cows.  He had a strong suck and went after the bottle with a good appetite.  Isabelle looks even more gaunt now.  It is shocking how much wieght a cow can lose in such a short time.  Each one of her ribs are visible and her hip bones are clearly exposed.  We think the only thing that might save her now is being with her calf and seeing that he is doing ok, or better than he was.  We will not milk her anymore, allowing her to absorb and stop producing milk.  Hopefully she will start eating again and begin to reverse her decline.
       The depression part makes a little bit of sense for this particular cow.  Her calf was dead last year and she required miguel's physical assistance to birth it out of her.   I distinctly remember her acting incredibly depressed for a long time after this happened.  Is it possible she never recovered from that event?  Something made her udder grow to such unhealthy proportions.  Is this more evidence of some hormone imbalance?   I am eager to head out today and see how the two of them are doing.  We will continue to feed her calf milk from other cows and pray for the peaceful result that comes.

Isabelle now

Isabelle a few years ago  

Isabelle giving her baby a good licking  

care?

     What does it mean when someone says they care about someone else?  There are an infinite number of ways to care about some one.  If two people live 3 states away, and there is never any face to face, phone, e-mail, snail mail, or any other contact between them, do they care about each other?  Seems like if one of the people is elderly and unable to initiate those forms of contact, then the other person could take the time to reach out and show that they care.  If the younger of the two people occasionally talks to other people in the family about the elderly person, does that mean that they care?  Seems that possibly they say that they care when really they are nosey and just wanting to give the impression that they care.  If they really cared, would they send a card?  When it was made known that the elderly person very much enjoys receiving snail mail but the younger person never once mailed a card or a picture of their young children, do they still care?  Aren't they just feeling guilty that they don't interact with the person?  
These are some common definitions of "CARE":

noun

1. 1. 

   the provision of what is necessary for the health, welfare, maintenance, and protection of someone or something.

   "the care of the elderly"
2. 2. 

   serious attention or consideration applied to doing something correctly or to avoid damage or risk.

   "he planned his departure with great care"

verb

1. 1. 

   feel concern or interest; attach importance to something.

   "they don't care about human life"
2. 2. 

   look after and provide for the needs of.

   "he has numerous animals to care for"

     In the provision of what is necessary, seems like sending a card in the mail would contribute to the health and welfare of a lonely Grandparent.  I guess if someone just feels concern or interest in
another person, they wouldn't need to take any action to express that feeling.  They could experience that feeling and not share it with the one they were concerned or interested in.    So according to the first verb definition of care, someone on the outside of a relationship may not be able to know that one person cares about another.  That is a personal experience of feeling and does not, by definition, require any action.  I imagine that it is potentially uncomfortable for a person to feel concern or interest in another person and not express it.  This discomfort may manifest as anger towards those who are actively expressing their feelings of concern through action.  It may manifest as guilt and gossip.
From now on, I will find a better word than care.  I want to do more than just care about people from afar.  I want to be involved in their life.  I don't want to sit back feeling concern or interest in someone and allow it to go unexpressed.

partnership

Prunella in Sept 2013.  She was born to June, the cow, in
June of that year.  She is named to rhyme with June, and after the
wild flowering perennial herb, Prunella.  

     I walked Prunella down the road.
She was calm and I was able to walk right next to her, just a short span of rope between us.  It felt like trust.  It felt like all the time and kindness put in with her was paying off.  I felt confident.  I know how to lead a cow down the road.
      Its spring time on the farm.  The grass is growing now.  The pasture down and across the road has a lot more to eat currently than the one here.  There were 17 cows on this pasture.  It was time to move some of the animals down the road to the other pasture.  Four of them willingly moved across the road at the gate.  Three others that we wanted to move would not go easily.  I knew that if we waited until tomorrow, I could put a halter on them and lead them peacefully down the road.  It would also be good practice for them, to have on a halter and be close to a human.   I knew it would be fun.  I love moving the animals like that.  They're big and its wonderful to have a powerful animal  trust me enough to walk down the road on a halter.
     Prunella went into the milk house in the morning and she just stood there, not going in to a stanchion.  I calmly approached her with a halter.  She let me gently slip it over her face and secure the buckle.  She was not confined, she could have moved, but she didn't.  I clipped the rope on and lead her out of the holding area, into the road.  She walked with me down the road.  I enjoyed the trip and let her take her time.  Sometimes I quietly spoke gentle encouragement, but mostly we were just quiet, walking.  It felt like partnership.
     When I got back to the milk house,  Nettle was already tied up with her halter and rope.  She came out of the holding area and into the road.  She didn't want me to be too close.  I let a long length of rope between us.  I paid attention to her energy and gently encouraged her forward sometimes.  Mostly she led me along.  She went into the new pasture with the other cows.  I tried to take her halter off and she resisted my being that close to her head.  I tried to hold her rope and close the gate but she pulled and got away.  I knew I could not safely allow her out in the pasture with a rope dangling from her halter.
        I followed her for a bit and she kept getting the rope caught under her feet so she was scared and couldn't get too far away.  Thankfully she stayed in the barnyard and did not run out into the larger pasture.  I kept following her and stayed focused on the rope, not looking at her to allow her to relax a bit.  I made a few grabs and she ran away scared.  I let her be for a minute and she started quickly munching on the thick, new grass.  I got down on my hands and knees, with my head towards her rear end.  I kept my eyes down, away from her head to let her relax and not create more intimidation.  I moved along the ground slowly towards her while she was munching and gently held still if she looked at me.  I made a grab for the rope and missed as she bounded away.  Nettle returned to eating and I got down on the ground again, slowly and calmly moving towards the rope.  Sending her gentle energy the whole time.  Letting her know I was going to help her by removing that halter, then leave her alone to be a cow.  She kept munching and I was able to get close with my rear towards her head.  I made a grab and reached the rope.  I stayed on my knees and held on.  She pulled away and I stayed down, not looking at her and not saying anything.  I stayed still and then quietly explained what I wanted to do.  I slowly got close to her and was able to release the buckle on the halter.  She jerked her head away and left me laying on the ground, halter and rope in my hand.
      Complete triumph.  I had done it.  All alone.  Caught a scared cow by her rope and stayed calm enough that she allowed me to remove her halter and set her free and keep her safe.  That felt so good.  I am good with the animals.  I know how to pay attention to their energy and I listen to what they need, which helps me get what I want.  Things like moving them to a lovely, lush pasture and keeping them safe.  We are partners.  I appreciate my relationship with each one of them, more than I am able to express.  They are true teachers and they stay true to themselves, allowing me to practice listening and respecting them as individual, independent beings.   Working with a cow is being in the flow.   It feels amazing.

Nettle in September 2014.  She was about two years old here and
had successfully given birth to her first calf.  Nettle is named
after her mother, Yarrow.  Both are wild herbs that grow
abundantly on the farm.  I collect and dry these plants for making
herbal tea.