A few weeks ago, we got a new cow from a local farmer. We had been buying milk from him and told him that we were looking for a certain breed that he had. He offered us one cow, but we decided on this cow, even though she was a different breed than we were looking for. She is a Brown Swiss and they are supposed to be great family cows. We were looking for a milk Gyr, but our new cow was inseminated with a Gyr, so hopefully a Brown Swiss/Gyr girl will be born in 9 months!
This girl was transported in the back of a truck. When she got to our property, she was facing the front of the truck and they tried to get her out, but the truck bed was slick. She slipped while turning and then just jumped out of the truck. It was crazy to watch, and I wish I had my phone on me to take a video! She was very timid when she arrived and had many adjustments to make. She used to be able to roam with the other cows, but we put a harness on her and tied her out as we have gardens around we don't want the cows to have access to. She also was going to be milked with a machine instead of by hand. And she would be getting used to using a milking stanchion instead of just standing in one area.
It took her a solid week to trust us enough to stick her head into the stanchion. Because of this, she wasn't fully letting us milk her. She was so stressed, we were barely getting anything, so she ended up getting mastitis pretty bad. We have been treating her, but we still have one more treatment and 4 more days before we can get milk for consumption. This crazy girl was named Lily by me, but my son who has been doing the milking decided that since we have a blackberry, her name should be Raw Strawberry. I'm still not sure what she will be called, but the previous farm didn't have a name for her.
She is getting more used to us and mostly willingly goes to get milked now. She likes it when I sit right by her head while being milked. If I'm not there, they say she's a little more difficult, so my new job is cow whisperer. Well, actually I talk to her and sing while they milk her. Ha! I hear it calms them down. Hopefully she and our other cow end up being good milking cows for us soon. Our other cow is set to have a baby in about 20 days, and hopefully it will be a girl. Having 2 milk cows and no milk at the moment sure is a challenge, but we're still able to buy it from the farm. We're looking forward to when we have enough again for our daily needs from our own girlies!
I was once gifted a Holstein calf by a dear dairyman named Karl Heinz. I'd never had a cow before, and at first I thought the great delight he showed was because of my profuse thanks. Not until Brownie reached ~400 lbs did I realize why he had been so full of mirth at giving me a cow. I didn't have a pasture, I had a small back yard. I didn't have any equipment, training, or practical knowledge of cattle, but Brownie was an Introduction to Cattle 101.
She was truly gentle with my then 4 year old son, and they gamboled about in the pasture I arranged for her like kittens with a ball of yarn - but she pinned me two feet off the ground against a barn wall with her little horns, once. I discovered then why none of the Holsteins I see hereabouts have horns. I learned that training cows to jump up into the back of pickup trucks wasn't as easy as teaching dogs to do it. Boy did I learn a lot!
I never did get her bred and milked, trading her off for a foundation under a commercial building about when she was old enough, but she was an impact on our lives I'll never forget. Pretty sure Karl was laughing at how well he convinced me I didn't want to be a dairyman.
Thanks!
Ha! That's a great story! We didn't have cows until we moved here and we definitely have learned a lot about them as well! We kept the horns on our holstein/jersey until my husband decided the points needed to be shaved down so she didn't accidentally gore someone. She still has horns and this new girl has some ground down horns. I noticed at the farm they treat the calves to keep their horns from growing. Sounds like Brownie had a good life!
After Brownie enlightened me as to her power, I at all times had a pistol on me when I or my family interacted with her, to prevent accidental goring. I suspect she was extremely aware of her power, and there was no actual danger of her accidentally goring anyone or anything. I couldn't swear to that on a stack of bibles, so I had the pistol. The next time she picked me up and pinned me against the barn wall, I pistol whipped her across the top of her head, where the bone is about 3 inches thick. Unlike my feeble wriggling and mewling protests, that did get her attention, and she stepped back and released me, shaking her head.
Thereafter she didn't pin my helpless wriggling (and presumably amusing) squeaky fleshtoy up against barn walls. Nuzzling me during feeding was mutually allowed, however. I never measured it, but I think the tongue of a cow is ~12" long, and she could stick it right down the back of my neck. That probably produced as amusing results as pinning me up against barn walls, for her. Cows are surprisingly playful.
Goodness I can imagine that she didn't do that again! And licking down the back of our neck! Ewww!! Ha! I always have in the back of my mind - Cows Gone Wild - like those commercials that used to come on TV - Dolphins Gone Wild or Sharks Gone Wild - where they attacked people. Ha! It's always good to keep their size into perspective. Even if they're gentle, they've got a lot of weight to throw around and accidents happen!