I sure hated to tell my close relative that her favorite old cow looked like she was gonna have that fatal trip to town in the near future.
The poor old thing, she is now 13 years old, has been afflicted with arthritis for the last two or three years, and it is getting pretty bad. She is springing pretty heavy and that makes it very difficult for her to get up when she does lay down. I watched her struggle to her feet earlier this morning and it hurts my heart to see an animal in such stress.
This old cow, my close relative calls her Nosey, was an orphan shortly after birth. Her mammy died from complications due to a breech birth, so we had to take the calf and raise her by bottle. My job was to bring her in. I gave the calf to my close relative, or anyone who would take the job! I sure like cattle, but I do not enjoy bottle feeding calves.
I figured the calf would be stunted and we would sell her as soon as she used up one sack of calf manna. I sorta forgot about her and didn't notice how she was growing until we sat down one evening to look at the feed tickets. I knew we would never be able to recoup what we had in that doggie! There were sacks of manna, calf starter pellets, tubes of Probias and a calf halter on the tickets. My close relative had made a cash cow out of that dang orphan calf.
A fall calf is always a little shocked by the fall weather turning cold, but Nosey had no worries. She was stalled in a warm barn with an automatic water heater to prevent her water from freezing. She still got fed twice a day all winter and the Grands could lead her anywhere. They loved to play show ring with Nosey and would spend hours grooming her.
I finally got the big old heifer moved into a herd of yearlings and she was bigger than any of them. I hoped she would breed and she sure did. She calved at two and has never missed a year or even been late. She has stayed in good shape during the droughts and the ice storms of her life. Her calves are dandy ones, and all but two have been heifers. And now the hammer drops. Once again a time of angst in the life of a beef producer.
There are no easy ways to address bad news, but I decided we would move Nosey to the barn and make her as comfortable as possible. We might be able to relieve some of the aches and pains, and the Vet said he would come by and medicate her. I wanted to keep her to at least raise this year's calf, so we are doing what we can to assist her.
It is my opinion, and everyone has one, animals play such an intricate part of ranchers' and farmers' lives that we cannot avoid the attachments we form. We depend on them for our living, but the bond is much more complicated than that. The methods we stand by and the ways of our lives are so entangled with the animals that we surely are a different sort.
I thank the good Lord for my place in this scheme, and yet I suffer over situations like the Nosey one. I believe my close relative is doing better than me because I ain't taking this real well.
Bill is the pen name of the Gravette author of this weekly column. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 07/30/2014