Lost a Cow
A sad end to a good old cow who had produced a calf every year of her productive life.
Every now and then you loose a cow, and in my life time in farming three such cases will stick in my mind forever, one of which died a few days ago.
The very earliest one was when I was at home, and when the cows were brought in for milking we found a cow had just calved and also she had got milk fever. The vet was called and calcium was administered, some under the skin and a bottle into the vein. As she was really flat out, the vet advised propping her up with a good wedge of straw, then when she picks her head up offer her a buckets of water.
This all done the vet gone, but the cow still not up, we left her with the calf across the field where she had calved, to get on with the milking and other regular morning jobs.
It could not have been much more than an hour when we went to see how she was, only to find she had got up and walked (or wobbled) off some where. On further searching she had gone to a pool (or pit) to have a drink of water, gone down again and had drowned in about eighteen inches of water, obviously still very disoriented and unsteady and unable to keep her balance.
This was one of the few occasions when I saw my mother shead a tear over a cow, it is always very upsetting when you loose a cow, but to loose one under your nose so to speak, and in full recovery mode, and in such shallow water with the calf still running about looking for it's mother.
The next one was only about five years ago, it was April time when all the cows are calving, almost all the cows usually calve in the field without any assistance or help, it's the first calf heifer that need to be looked and looked after more closely.
On looking the cows at first light, right near the gate was a cow laying down and laying very still, she had just calved and the calf was up and sucking from its mother whilst mother was lying flat down, this looked very strange, never seen that happen before in my life. On going round the cow I realized that the reason she was so still was that she was dead, and she was lying on her own head which was folded round underneath her and suffocated.
There was no evidence of a struggle, and no evidence of interference from other cows, and could see no obvious reason that she would lay down of her own accord in that position. The calf had been licked and almost dry and just sharp enough to be looking for a drink of milk. A most freak and unusual incident I had ever come across. I did take a few pictures but cannot just bring them up for some reason, so you will just have to form a picture in your own minds.
The third incident just this month, it was our oldest cow we were watching, again just at calving time, and she was way away from the others and just starting the calving sequence of finding a quite place to calve. She must had felt the need for water and had gone to a shallow ditch on the meadows, stumbled with her front leg and gone down with her hip in the hollow and her head in only six inches of water. But this had happened during the night and she had struggled to get up, and could not get her legs under herself enough to start and rear up, got exhausted and drowned in the shallow water that she had been reaching to drink.
A sad end to a good old cow who had produced a calf every year of her productive life, and to have to hook a chain on her legs and drag her out of the ditch and up to the gate for collection was heart rendering. She was one that had been born on the place and very aware of ditches on her meadows some of which are on peat.
Thankfully there are plenty of better stories of calving times, like a few years ago we had three sets of twins in one season, when we had not had twins for almost twenty years, it certainly brought our calving percentage up that year.
I Remember Father's Cattle
In the mid 1950's vets were recommending worming young stock with a new product called phenothiazine. This was a green powder and had to be mixed with water and a pint or so was pour down their throats.(drenched)
I remember father counting, cattle each and every day,
He counts and looks at every one, to see they're all OK,
Cow one day he sees's one cough, and then it was another.
If we don't do something quickly, we'll be in a bit of bother.
So off down he goes to get, some wormer in a rush,
And back he comes and reads the label, says get them in a crush,
No crush have we, but four strong lads, we'll get them in a stable,
Mix water and green powder in a bucket, put it on the table.
Four long neck bottles we did find, for dosing all the cattle,
Phenothiozine, it's called, and keep it stirred or it will settle,
The pop had gone as we made sure; we loved the fizzy taste,
One pint and half was dose that's needed, over dose was waste.
Pint ladle and a funnel now, into the bottled it was measured,
Us lads went in among the stock, as tight a they could be,
The bottles we did pass to one, who had ones chin held high,
Uptip the med-sin to back of throat, do not look down or ni.
The cow that coughs, coughs both ends, and chuck it back they try,
Its just a waste as we were told, but hits you in the eye,
Soon learn to leave it quickly, as soon as we could shift,
As dosing cattle get there own back, now who's being thrift.
We often wondered why we lads, had grown so big and strong,
When other lads around us, were only lean and long,
Put it down to fresh air, and read farmers weekly magazine,
But all the time it wasn't, twas Phenothiazine.
Countryman (Owd Fred)
I have not yet met with a sorrow that could not be borne, nor with one who's passing did not leave me stronger'
Kathryn L. Nelson. (Pemberley Manor, 2006)