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Tuesday, March 04, 2008

The Best anti-depressant? Cow.

I have not felt this good in years. I am not too sure what it is, but ever since the ladies got here, I have not been sulking or too hard on myself. Was this the challenge I needed? Has all my years of being Chronically, sorry they changed the term, clinically depressed is because of the lack of a cow in my life. I have trained dogs, and cats, and have deal with many other animals. Yet there is something odd about this whole cow thing, and I like it.

Edie is a fast learner. I have heard it reported and I never doubted that cows have the same intelligence level as dogs. Edie surpasses all the dogs I have ever dealt with.

Mama is a bully, plain and simple. She is the "herd" leader. She is in the stanchion first, while Edie is left to complain. I have to tempt mama with a little more grain to get her out of the stanchion. She doesn't scare off, or even respond to the tap on the rear that all the homesteading books say to do. Edie and I have it all figured out. After Mama has been brushed down (which by the way she loves, she'll lean into it) I leave the barn and grab a small bit of the grain. Edie will then walk to the back end of the corral and wait for me. I drop the grain on the ground, and Edie and I both wait for the selfish Mama to come and gobble it up. She does indeed get there rather quickly. Then Edie will rush past her, running to the barn and the stanchion even before I am running down the other side of the fence line. I grab the feed bucket, set it in the stanchion, tell Edie she's a good girl, as I run around the backside of her to lock the gate. The first time we did this, yesterday morning, Edie would look up at Mama threatening her from behind the gate. Last night however, she didn't look up at her once. She caught on quickly. Mama, however is tricked by food. She might catch on soon, but I am hoping she catches on to the fact that she wasn't called, there for she doesn't get to be in the stanchion.

Yesterday I got all my chores done before 10 am. I am feeling that good.

And my husband has started overturning the soil for the potato beds.

digging a potato bed

Thank you all for your help with looking for cow labor. It looks as though Edie's udder has begun to fill out. I spotted some mucus dribble, and my husband compared cow privates (I still don't trust getting that close behind them) He says there is noticeable difference in the two. But I will guess that we really won't know until it happens. This is our first time ya know.

I am going to leave you today with a little NAIS. Let's start with Radio Iowa, who reports that One livestock expert says the recent recall of more than 240,000 pounds of ground beef, the nation's largest-ever such recall, could have been prevented or greatly minimized through better cattle tracking methods. Dr. Randy Wheeler, an assistant state veterinarian at the Iowa Department of Agriculture, says programs to follow a cow's progress from the barn to the slaughterhouse are already in place, but they're voluntary. continues>>>>

Then head over to see why Henry Lamb wants to know where the USDA inspectors were, and that NAIS wouldn't have helped in this case.

The biggest meat recall in the history of the world topped the domestic news this week: 143-million pounds of beef, processed over the last two years, now scattered throughout the nation's schools and fast-food joints – all recalled. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had little choice. An animal rights group released videotape of "downer" cows being pushed around by a forklift and being dragged across filthy floors before joining healthy cows on the hamburger highway.

The big question raised by everyone is: Where were the USDA inspectors? continues>>>>

8 comments:

Billy said...

Cows are an anti-depressant, huh? Guess I better come out there and check them out one day.

Dancingfarmer said...

I am so glad you like your cows Phelan. Congrats again and a big smile from me to you :-D
Monica

The Fool said...

Cool. I can hear the therapists now: "Take two cows and call me in a year."

How widespread is that bad beef? Where did it go? Some of that beef traced to our schools. How about your neighborhood?

Tim Appleton (Applehead) said...

Nothing like good old hard work. I was going to ask if you have started milking yet....

Stephanie Appleton said...

Funny the things we do with animals! :0

I was in a bit of a funk and our twin lambs being born pulled me right out.
Too bad we can't afford to purchase new cows or cue mama's to give birth when we need are down! :)

Maggie said...

If your happy now just wait for the calf!!! My favorite chore was feeding the calves. We had a jersey and two holstein. they are so sweet. Those big eyes and eyelashes. And those huge baby bottles were a blast too. How will you be milking? Is that a weird question? What I guess I mean is that although we started by good old hand we had a single mechanical pump for Clarabell. I can't imagine what they have now but I loved hanging on the fence watching grandpop get the machine ready he would always spray the barncats first and they loved it too.... Hey your cows are even making me happy. Havn't thought some of these thoughts in some time.

Anonymous said...

Glad you're finding happiness in your cows phelan, hope it continues!

Phelan said...

abba, oh I need to email you. Next weekend we are having a bbq to celebrate my husband's birthday. You, the kid and the bf are more then welcome to come out. Just bring a side dish.

Monica, I like cows. :D

The Fool, not sure where all it ended up. But after 2 years oe would think it had all been consumed.

Tim, I know it feels great. Maybe it is the whole not much to do in the winter thing. Hopefully I can start milking Edie after the calf comes.

Stephanie, I know! Maybe we should keep a log of when we are at our worst, then start getting animals knocked up so that they give birth about that time.

Maggie, see! I told you :D

Thank you Farm mom.

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