Auntie Spirit, Old Momma, and Mr. Boo
We go through a surprising amount of grain with molasses because Sharon has her pets who get special treatment. They each come to the fence to collect their treats so she can see them up close and talk to them.
The first one she treated special was Spirit, the bottle-fed twin raised around our house. When she went into the pasture to live with the other cattle, it took very little coaxing to get her to come to the gate for a ration of grain. This allowed Sharon the opportunity to pet her and talk with our pretty little black and white heifer. She only sees them through the gate, for my wife is intimidated by the size of her pets. Being able to get close without getting bumped or stepped on is much more appealing than walking into the pasture.
For many months, Spirit was the only one who got special treatment. One day Old Momma came to the gate to see why Spirit went there. Because Old Momma was raising a calf, she was a little thin. She smelled the remnants of grain and looked up at Sharon. She let out a lusty bawl, almost as if saying, “Hey. What am I? Chopped liver?”
Sharon walked in the house where I was resting in my big chair. “The old curved-horned cow looks so thin. She’s raising a big calf, and it’s hard on her. Will it be okay if I give her a little grain?” Thus the love affair with Old Momma began. And it continues today, several successfully-raised calves later, all aided by the old girl’s nutrition being supplemented with grain. Of course, the once-a-day feeding of grain has been bumped up to twice a day, and sometimes “just a little bit more” a third time.
Old Momma with the curved horns currently has a calf marked almost exactly like her. Exactly like her, except for one minor difference. Instead of red and white, the calf is black and white. And even with her mother’s marking pattern, she still shows a strong resemblance to her daddy, Mr. Boo.
And speaking of Mr. Boo, my trusty herd sire, he had to learn to like grain. When we first bought him, it was either alfalfa hay or nothing. He’d walk away from a pan of grain. Over the past few years, he’s learned to relish the taste of the mixture of grains dashed with a little molasses.
When Old Momma comes hustling up to the back gate, it is not unusual to hear Mr. Boo coming toward us. He has this funny little humming sound he makes when he’s walking. Each breath out, he hums, takes another breath, and hums again. When I hear him announcing his progress toward the back gate, even when I can’t see him, I get a second container so I can give them both a pan of grain.
This morning I was walking toward the patio gate with Old Momma’s grain, and heard Mr. Boo announcing he was coming toward us. Still out of sight, I called to him. “Okay Mr. Boo. I’ll get you some too. Come on in.”
When I stepped out of the feed room, he stood with only his head and neck showing around the corner. I gestured toward the gate. “Well, don’t just stand there. Come on over and get yours. I’ve got it right here.”
As soon as I poured Old Momma’s in her pan, her calf stepped right in to share with her. Mr. Boo politely waited until I poured his into the other pan, then he stepped in to enjoy his morning treat.
As soon as they were busy eating, I mounted my quad, roared down to the barn, and fed the rest of the herd their morning feed of alfalfa. Before I got the hay in the manger, I heard Mr. Boo humming his arrival at the barn.
Some time ago, a little angus cow from the neighbor’s field decided she wanted to have her calf in the field with Spirit and our horses. She and Spirit are friends and often share the hay fed to Spirit. A few days ago, I noticed Spirit lying in the middle of the pasture, the neighbor’s calf resting nearby. I stopped the quad and yelled at Sharon. “Auntie Spirit is baby-sitting.”
Even though Spirit is barren and can’t conceive, it doesn’t keep her from being quite comfortable watching over the neighbor’s little bull calf while his mother goes to hay. Apparently Spirit has inherited Sharon’s caring manner. This morning Spirit was once again baby-sitting. Brent Gill lives in Springville. His “Daunt to Dillonwood” column appears regularly in The Porterville Recorder through the generosity of Weisenberger’s Hardware on West Olive in Porterville. If you enjoyed this column, follow his blog at http://brentgwriter.blogspot.com.