For over half my life I have wanted a pet cow in the backyard! Of course, growing up that was just not something that would have ever been possible. We moved every 3 years and often lived in military housing. When Mitchell and I bought our house, I continued asking for a pet cow. He continued saying we would not have an animal that served no purpose. If we were going to have a cow it would be to raise for beef.
In January we bought our property and when Mitchell came back from Officer Training School in April he realized the amount of growth the grass out there and the size of the property would be absolutely miserable to try to maintain with a mower/brush hog. That was about the time he started looking for cows to put out there to eat the grass and that we could raise for our own food. When he found the beginning of our herd, we were told most of the cows were bred and talked about maybe bring one to the house for our girls to be able to experience the cow birthing process and then milking her. The one we were going to bring here ended up being not very sweet when Lance tried to load her up to bring her to our house. At that point I asked if the smallest heifer of the group could come here instead. When she first arrived she was extremely skittish and moo'ed pretty much nonstop. She wouldn't let us get too close or touch her.
The first few days, Mitchell put some food in a bucket and took it out to her so she would start to recognize the bucket meant food and the people bringing it were not there to hurt her. I spent those first few days just standing in her pen and talking to her, letting her know she was okay. After a few days I would hold the bucket of food and attempt to pet her as she ate. She would always back up and hesitate to come back. A few days later I was able to touch the top of her head while it was in the bucket but that was it. Little by little, the more time I spent with her and kept trying to pet her she warmed up to me and about 2 weeks in I was able to pet her while she was eating without her backing away from me.
We decided to move her pen to a different spot in the yard that would provide her with a little more room but most importantly, shade. She had only been in that pen a day or two when the dogs decided to attack. They broke through her fence and ganged up on her. Mitchell and I ran out to find them with teeth locked into her and her desperately trying to get away. Mitchell was able to get them off of her long enough to get in between her and the dogs but they wouldn't listen and kept trying to get at her. Being close to the end of the second trimester at the time, there wasn't much I could do. I did however find the biggest stick I could and helped get the dogs back while Mitchell struggled to get Magnolia back to her pen and the fence back up and locked.
For the next few months we dealt with getting Magnolia doctored and healed. We had another set back not long after Maple joined the backyard when the dogs got after them again. Maple fought Storm off that time. After a long battle, doubts she would make it, and lots of cow doctoring, we finally got both Maple and Magnolia healed and healthy. Magnolia started putting on a decent amount of weight and started looking less like a calf and more like a big girl. Maple moved out to the property and Magnolia got a new backyard friend for a few weeks while Rusty was here before he went to the processor. The morning Rusty was to go to the processor, the pair went on quite an adventure around the neighborhood because Rusty had no interest in being caught and put on the trailer. After much chasing and corralling, we eventually got them back in the yard and Rusty on the trailer. She was alone again for a little while and we learned she definitely prefers to have a friend.
A couple months ago we finally brought my fuzzy highland/Hereford baby home to the backyard (more on that soon). Along with Marshmallow, Maple came back and we brought a steer to be finished. Magnolia had all the friends again! Unfortunately for us, we haven't been getting any rain and having 4 cows in the backyard does a number on the grass. Mitchell has been saying we need to take Magnolia out to the property. Of course I disagree because she is my girl and I would never get to see her out there. But Maple will likely not be able to go back due to the injury to her leg she had when we got her and the strain it puts on her roaming 40 acres. He says even once the steer is gone, we can't keep 3 cows in the backyard. I have compromised and agreed that Magnolia can stay at Mitchell's parents since Peaches has moved to the property.
Moving day for Mags... well it didn't go well. Two weeks ago Mitchell loaded Magnolia on the trailer no problem. I went out and told her I'd come see her soon, gave her some treats and told her to be a good girl. Not long later I got a call that Magnolia had taken off to the field across from my in laws and they were out searching the field for her. Hours later I got another call asking me to come see if I could get her to come to me because she had been running all over a neighbor's property and no one could get close to her. I loaded the babies up and headed over. They had her cornered. I grabbed her favorite pink feed bucket and started calling her. She did come to me, but she was scared and stressed and did not get close enough for me to grab her before she took off again. We chased her some more before she ended up pushing her way through the fence and onto yet another property. We were told this property was fenced and that she would be okay there and we could come back to try to catch her another day. A few days later when a search party went out to find her, we learned that was in fact not the case. It was not completely fenced. At that point I accepted I would most like never see my sweet girl again. We prayed about it and planned to put up flyers but we weren't expecting much.
That Friday, I was out shopping with the girls and got a text from my mother-in-law with a picture of Magnolia in a pen. My jaw dropped! Not only had someone found her and caught her, they were less than 5 minutes from my in laws house and were willing to keep her there with their cows until we could come get her! Thanking God she was safe and completely unharmed, we went to pick her up last Monday and she did finally move to the in law's. Now they are slowly working on gaining her trust and trying to integrate her in with their goats and llama. She isn't convinced yet that they are friends and very much wants to join the cows on the other side of the fence.
Quite the adventure for such a small cow... until next time!
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