Our son-in-law, Kelly (Misty’s husband), has a brother who wanted a yearling to finish out, so he bought this cow at $.50 a pound.  The guy who sold it to him said the cow was just too mean to have in his herd so he was ‘just getting rid of her’.

Over came the cow to our holding pens, located next to kid’s house.  She was scared, terrified and acted just plain mean; pawing up dirt, putting her head down and snorting through her nose….mean cow (?).  Terry thought she had been treated mean, and wasn’t really mean at all. 

A couple of weeks later, eating really nice hay, yummy corn, and lots of fresh water ….. and THERE IS A BABY!  No one knew she was even going to have a baby (except her, of course).

Now there is a different problem, the baby can’t nurse; the cow is upset and unable to settle down, so Terry steps in and shows everyone how to get things started.  He had to milk the cow first, her bag was just too full, give the milk to the baby in the bottle (yum, good), put the baby on the cow and work the little girl’s mouth so she could understand, keep milking the teat until everyone (mom and daughter) caught on to ‘this is HOW to eat’.

Now she is gentle enough everyone can get into the pen with her, she lets the baby be petted by everyone, and the pawing and snorting has stopped.

Needless to say, she is going to go live at Jeff’s in a pasture of good grass, with her baby.  Mom and baby will now have a long, long life.

You can just see Terry’s head (by the post), and his arm, as he helps the calf eat and helps the mom let down her milk.