|
|
The Saga of
Gertrude and Maggie Moo By Dan Gill,
Ethno-Gastronomist Around the
middle of June, our granddaughter, Taylor, found a baby calf surrounded by
turkey buzzards and realized that she was motherless, starving and would not survive
much longer. Taylor brought the calf to our house for intensive care, which
included force feeding her electrolytes from a bottle, as she had lost the
suckling instinct and was too weak to nurse. The calf responded quickly and
didnÕt need medication – just milk. We kept her in our solarium for a
few days until she was strong enough to go outside.
Photos by
Shelley Gill We raise a
lot of beef cattle on our farm and sell the yearlings at livestock markets. Usually,
cows have their calves and raise them without much help from us, but
occasionally something goes wrong. A cow may need help with a difficult or
abnormal birth, a calf may be sick and unable to nurse, the cow may have an
udder infection and refuse the calf, or occasionally a defective mother will
abandon her calf. We suspect that Gertrude was abandoned, but we were not
able to determine the cause or identify her mother. We had a
similar situation last year. Maggie Moo, an abandoned three-day-old calf, was
running a high fever and was blind and near death when Taylor and I found her
curled up in the pasture. Our daughter, Sarah (TaylorÕs mother) gave her
antibiotics, electrolytes and medicine for scours until she was well, and
then raised her in a garage near the store. Within a few weeks she had
regained her sight. We fashioned a temporary pen for her so that store
customers could pet and talk to her. As she was raised completely away from
the herd, Maggie Moo had no idea she was a cow – she thought she was a
dog and chased, head butted and played hide and seek with Sarah until she was
too big and the games became too rough and dangerous. At night, Maggie Moo
would retire to her room in the garage, close the door and turn on the light.
If someone came by, she would open her door and peek out to see if she wanted
to greet them. Maggie Moo is all grown up now and back on the farm learning
how to be a cow.
Gertrude
now sleeps in the cattle trailer after her evening meal and is on a long leash
or in a pen during the day. I take her to the store when we are open and
customers love to visit and pet her. The inevitable question is, ÒWill she be
on the menu somedayÓ? The answer is, no. She is a heifer and will go back to
the farm to be a cow and have calves of her own when she grows up. Had she
been so unfortunate as to have been born a male, he would have been named
ÒSir LoinÓ and would have ended up in the grass-fed beef market.
Gertrude in
her pasture behind the store Photo by Liz Kidd When we are
closed on Monday and Tuesday, Gertrude comes back to the farm where she can
visit with Maggie Moo and her friends and socialize with us on the lawn in
the afternoon. One day I was eating potato chips and Gertrude decided that
she wanted to taste one. She liked it and wanted more. Sarah recorded her
antics; and our other daughter, Shelley, edited the video and added
appropriate music.
Gertrude
Meets Maggie Moo
Bet you canÕt eat just one Click HERE to
view the video or visit our Facebook
page. © Dan Gill - Published
in Pleasant Living Sept. – Oct. Õ10 Something Different Country Store and Deli More Blurbs
from a Country Store Previous:
Riverisms |
