Two For Dinner

One of our more senior cows, Pressure, sustained an injury to her front foot and has been limping along for a few weeks now. She tends to hang off by herself away from the main herd under the shade of tall fir trees or way back at the far corner beyond the spring while her tender foot heals.

Whatever has been bothering her, could have been a split in the hoof, pebble from the river or a small stick lodged and festered. We have cleaned the wound several times and applied topical poultices, finally it is slowly clearing up although she still has quite a bit of swelling and will be recovering for several more weeks.

We have been giving her some grain along with her own hay for her evening meal to help her keep her weight up while she recuperates. Her calf, Titan who was born in December, still expects his mother to supply him with milk even though he spends most of his time with the main herd. He comes back to wherever Pressure is resting and urges her to stand so he can nurse.

Titan has also gotten a taste of her grain and when he sees the black tub of her dinner, he extricates himself from whatever he is doing to get in on the meal.

Pressure is a very patient sort and allows Titan to eat right along side her in the cramped feed tub. Our job while she and her calf are eating is to keep the rest of the herd from joining in. We have learned that if we park the Gator between Pressure and the rest of the critters, one person can easily fend off the three exposed sides from invaders that try to sneak over from the main herd.