(Taken as soon as I noticed Cora in labor and before the storm hit.)
It was a
vision in my mind of the difference living here could make for Cora – that made
sense out of deciding to cull Patty from our Herd. It’s hard to describe. But there was a moment I will never forget - on
April 27, 2013.
I had Cora’s
calf in our Gorilla cart – beckoning her to follow me into the barn so I could
get both of them into a stall and out of the storm. That baby needed to be put under the heat
lamp and dried off – fast.
Cora
followed me. She got about 20 feet from the
barn door – before Patty came charging up.
She T-boned Cora and started raising cane at Cora – demanding she come
back. Patty forced Cora all the way back
to the furthest corner of the paddock.
It was an ‘eye-to-eye’
contact of communication between the 2 of us that told me so much. In Cora’s eyes I could see her telling me
that she wanted to come with me. But she
had no choice other than to go with Patty – no matter what she wanted. Patty was one to get revenge when the Humans
weren’t around.
And I knew
that. I’d seen it. Patty never could see me watching her from
between the blades of the window blinds in my sewing room.
But it was
that moment of ‘eye-to-eye’ contact with Cora that put a solid hunch into my
heart. I just knew Cora would be so much
happier – if Patty were gone. And a day
would come when I could brush her.
We just don’t
sell mean animals. Patty became much
nicer – in the Freezer. And you could
just – feel – this warm and fuzzy blanket of – pure calmness – covering our
entire property – as soon as that livestock trailer could no longer be seen or
heard by the others.
It’s been a
long – slow – patient – compromising journey with helping Cora build trust
enough to fit in just like all the others – over this past year. But we’ve pampered her. We’ve never pushed. She’s enjoyed the cookies – the extra hay –
having so many things her way. She’s
appreciated being allowed to come inside the barn during the rough cold winter
periods and during storms. She’s appreciated
the respect we’ve given her.
Through it
all – she’s maintained 2 rules - “Do NOT touch me.” – “I don’t share my food
with anybody!”
We’ve had to
dance around the issue regarding her food rations. Our first go-round of having April and Anna
in the same paddock with her presented problems during meals. She wasn’t backing down. So we tried bringing the other 2 girls into
the little yard to share the bunker during meals. When it works – you go with it. When it doesn’t work – you better be willing
to think fast and try something else – if you want your own supper.
Cora has
enjoyed – and appreciated - her life here since Patty left. And she let that be known when April dropped
her first calf. She witnessed April take
such a drastic switch into a negative direction with her behavior – as soon as
that calf hit the ground.
Cora was in
her own stall – beside April’s – when she watched April throw Dwayne into the
air and against the wall. All he was
doing was picking up manure so she could enjoy a clean stall. Cora’s always understood and appreciated that
care from us. She’s never resisted
scooting over so we could “get the poo-poo” for her – not even when she spent a
week in her stall after having Stormy.
She
witnessed April’s constant attempts to ram us when we tried dishing her grain
into her feed trough – even when we’d try giving that girl extra hay. But I think the turning point came when Cora
saw April ram me out in the paddock - and hurt my right arm – which I’d had
surgery on in January.
Training
Cora to come inside her stall to eat paid off in more ways than we’d even
hoped. We needed to be able to con her
into that stall – especially when it came time for her to calve. Having this calf was a whole new ballgame for
her. Patty wasn’t around. And we wanted her to enjoy the experience –
for a change. But we never assumed
things would go as hoped.
The surprise
came when we noticed her eagerness and willingness from the start. This was just one more thing that Cora wanted
– in order to feel like she fit in with the others. She wanted to eat inside her own stall – like
April. With the exception of the few
days she spent in that stall after she calved Stormy – Cora had always shared
the alley of the barn with Bruce – or – alone.
We turned April
and Aon out into the paddock – after they’d had time to bond and he was fit for
going outside. We tried turning Cora out
with them. Right off the bat – Cora began
trying to nurse Aon. And she began shoving
April out of the way.
We had to
pull Cora out of there – immediately.
She was close to calving. We
could not have another calf robbing the Colostrum from Cora that would be
needed for her own calf.
We’re not
quite sure if this may have attributed to a problem we had later.
But the
trouble we had with getting her out of there had me concerned. Cora’s persistence – reluctance – followed by
blowing snot at me for the rest of the day – had me feeling there was something
more to it. I had to kiss her butt with
cookies and extra hay – even after the sweetfeed – just to get her to stop
blowing the snot.
We know now –
and we will try next time – milking the colostrum from Cora for storage –
before pulling April’s calf and putting it with Cora. But things with Cora began changing after
that.
My routine
with her during meals was to – deliberately – set her feed bowl in the furthest
corner of her stall. I was letting her
know that I was respecting her flight zone in a small space. I picked up manure around her – first. And then I would lay her hay out along the
front wall of her stall.
All of this –
at the time – was about conditioning her - preparation for being able to access
her stall with her and the calf inside.
I always made
a point of swinging out - away from her big preggers butt to leave the stall
after setting down her feed bowl. The 2
of us developed a comfortable routine within a couple days. Cora would follow me in and even give me room to
set the bowl down before approaching to put her nose inside. Basically – I’d walk the back wall of the
stall – then walk the side wall and exit through the door.
There was a
day – before we’d tried letting her out into the paddock with April and Aon –
when she pulled a stunt on me. I set the
bowl down. She approached the bowl and
began eating as soon as I stepped to the right.
But as I reached the corner of the stall connecting the back and side
walls – Cora made an obvious and deliberate move – dragging her feed bowl backward
and swinging that big preggers butt to the right – trapping me into the
corner. She did it so fast that I lost
my footing and had no choice but to lean on her right backside to catch myself.
Not one
single flinch appeared in her entire body.
She just continued inhaling that grain – like nothing happened. I had to remember to breathe first – move my
hand second.
Until then -
I’d always used my buzz words “coming around, Baby Girl” – whenever I needed to
pass by her in the alley of the barn for any reason. But I never touched her. When I tried doing the same for this moment –
the Girl would not budge.
I tried it
again. Only this time I gave her 2 soft
pats on her right backside as I said the words.
That was one of those cliff-jumping moments. My gut was wrecked! She could have kicked the fool out of me –
smashed me into the walls. I could have
been a goner – so easily – after touching her again!
She made one
step to the left. That was all. I had to squeeze around her backside to get
out of the corner. (Compromising to the
bitter end?) She never even moved a hoof
until I made it outside and closed the stall door.
I just stood
there – holding back tears. Everything
inside me told me that she’d done that on purpose.
From that
day until Seamus was born – Dwayne and I would test the waters with patting her
on the butt every now and then. She
never fussed.
(Taken after we knew it was okay to go inside.)
As luck
would have it – I couldn’t bring myself to lock her up in her stall near the
end. Me and my cup of coffee headed out
to the barn as soon as I could see outlines of trees and structures on June 6,
2014. I found Cora standing about 20
feet from her new black baby that was curled up in a ball and sleeping. But that was even better than had she been
inside the barn.
We’d been
prepping Artist for the new arrivals. He
became pissed off after seeing April and Aon in the other paddock for the first
time. I had been telling him that he was
gonna get to see HIS new baby. I had
prepped him with my buzz words. “You and
April are gonna have a new baby! You’re
gonna be a Daddy, Artist! I’m gonna make sure you get to see your baby. I promise!”
They all know that last part secures the deal. Mom follows through with that one – all but
this one time anyway. And it broke my
heart. I was as angry as him.
But Artist
was able to stand only a few feet from Cora while she gave birth to
Seamus! He had to go through some
training with learning how to use his “ Baby voice, Artist… Gentle.” He goes from holding his head up kicking out a
roar to holding his head way down and looking up with his eyes while he gives
off this gentle coo. I snicker every
time he does it. He loves to coo to the
babies. And it’s all just so cute!
But after
all the frightening nightmare we went through with April – we both stood
outside the little yard. Dwayne stood next
to the gate. I stood under the RV pad. Cora seemed to conclude that we were not
coming inside. And the coolest thing
happened!
She walked
over to the calf – began nudging and mooing until the calf stood. And then – she began pushing the calf toward
me! Dwayne and I just looked at each
other with mouths wide open. We went
inside!
It was as if
she was compensating for April’s bad behavior – deciding to share her calf with
us. And Miss April watched the whole
thing. We could only hope she would
learn a lot from Cora – and cool her jets.
We took
pictures – of course! And then we
decided on a plan for getting the 2 of them into her stall – at least long
enough to figure out how we’d get to the calf so we could dip the navel and
give him his intranasal e.Coli bovine vaccine.
We tried the
usual feeding routine. It worked. But she left the calf outside! So Dwayne carried him in while I manned the
stall door to get him in with her quickly – to quiet her down. All she did was moo a little louder to let
Seamus know she was there.
So much more
different than April. THAT Girl has had
to learn so much with this first calf.
And the first lesson was learning that mommies do not leave their new
babies in a corner of the bedroom and go partying! All it took was a flake of hay. She almost ran out of the barn to get to it. It was as if she’d completely forgot that she’d
just had a calf!
And then it
took her a few minutes to realize we’d shut the barn door! But when she snapped – all Hell broke
loose! Luckily – we had Rob and Michelle
there. We had to work fast to dip Aon’s
navel – weigh him and give him the intranasal vaccine. But Dwayne cleaned the stall. He laid fresh hay over the entire stall and
have her a couple flakes to eat. All was
fresh and clean – and baby was just fine.
Took her 5 whole minutes to shut up!
Cora had no
problem after Dwayne set the calf down.
She let him come back into the stall to dip his navel and give him his
vaccine. She let both of us come inside
and pet him – love on him. She just made
it so obvious that she wanted to share this calf with us!
That
surprise became a blessing more than we could have imagined – 3 days later. And I’ll share all that in the next posting!
