Rosie Has a Limp

A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast; But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread; But he that followeth after vain [persons] is void of understanding. The wicked desireth the net of evil men; But the root of the righteous yieldeth [fruit].  Proverbs 12:10-12

An event happened last week that really made me do some thinking.  Rosie is our Jersey cow.  She's given us some nice calves and has given our family lots of creamy, delicious milk to drink over the years.  We affectionately call her Rose Ethel, and I don't even know why.

Rosie and her calf

Rosie is five years old.  Our other Jersey cow, Daisy is seven years old.  Daisy is a hardy, tough animal and she just keeps going.  Rosie, on the other hand, has a weaker constitution.  She'll be the first cow to get ketosis, a metabolic imbalance that she's prone to get after delivering calves, and she's the first to get real skinny during a brief period of drought or if the grass in the pasture isn't growing as fast as we'd like.

Daisy & Rosie chowing down on grass

Last week we became aware that Rosie is NOT bred like we thought she was.  We thought she had successfully bred with Bully, our registered Jersey bull, but that is definitely not the case.  It is quite easy to tell when a cow comes "in heat."  They get real rambunctious and will sniff each other and jump on each other.  It can be kind of embarrassing, but has provided numerous opportunities to have the "birds and the bees" talk with the kids.  The cows' hormones are raging and you have to really watch yourself or you'll get run over.  It quickly becomes a full-fledged rodeo in the barnyard.

During one evening last week that appeared to be the case.  Rosie was going crazy. We milked them and let them go out into the pasture in the cool of the evening to eat grass.  The next morning at 5:30 we noticed that Rosie was walking with a very pronounced limp.  She's limped before, but not this badly.  She had scrapes on her back and I'm sure that she and the bull had gotten frisky and can only guess that she fell or twisted her ankle.  Big Boy, our Great Pyrenees likes to dig holes and maybe during the romancing, Rosie fell into one of Big Boy's holes.  Note to self: Fill in Big Boy's holes!

Rosie was barely putting any weight at all on her back, left foot.  That is tough on an 800 pound animal.  We gave her extra molasses and alfalfa because she wasn't getting around the pasture to eat grass with Daisy and the bull.  She just sat in the shade and would get up intermittently and nibble while balancing on three legs. You could tell she was losing weight and likewise, her milk production dropped. We were quite concerned.  We certainly did not want to lose Rose Ethel.

Rosie posing

We pray for our animals.  We're not environmental whackos.  We're not animal rights activists.  It is clear in the book of Genesis that Man is to have dominion over the animals, BUT we are called to be good stewards of our animals.  As the verse from Proverbs states above, we are to take care of them, show them compassion and care. That's what we do.  We treat them well and in turn, they provide for us.

I couldn't see much swelling on her leg and began to think that maybe she had stepped on a stick or object that was stuck in her hoof, making it unbearable for her to walk on.  That evening we tied her to a solid post in the stall and I tried to grab her injured leg to lift up and inspect the bottom of her hoof. Not a good idea. She did not like that one bit and kicked so hard it would have hurt me if I hadn't gotten quickly out of the way.  We made plans to call our veterinarian out to the barn on a Farm Call first thing Monday morning if ol' Rose Ethel hadn't improved.

We prayed for her while milking and at mealtime and watched her closely.  She was definitely on our minds during the day. Guess what?  She started making improvements.  At first just gradual improvements, and we held off on calling the vet.  On Tuesday morning, she had more pep in her step and actually ran into the barn at milking time.

I'm alright.  Don't nobody worry about me!

Tricia and I both looked at each other and said, "Thank the Good Lord!"