Goodbye, Jody

We waited as long as we could today to take Jody to the butcher shop.  At 3:30 I went back on "the point" where the cows were lying in the shade.  I put a halter on her, attached the lead rope, and made her get up.  She followed me just like a dog would follow.  The phrase "like a lamb to the slaughter" came to mind (Isaiah 53:7).  We had very little problem getting her in the stock trailer, which makes me feel good.  I don't like animals that are heading to the butcher shop to get upset in any way.    

As I was leading Jody from the back of the pasture I thanked her for being such a good pet when she was small; for being such an easy cow to milk, never kicking or messing in the barn while I was milking; and for presenting me with a beautiful heifer calf.  I also thanked her for the meat we'll be putting in our freezer.  She has fulfilled her purpose on earth in many ways.  Isn't that what life is about?  

People always tell me they could never eat meat from an animal they raised, but I have no problem with that.  Oh, I'm teary-eyed right now, but I would rather eat the meat of an animal that I know had a wonderful, happy life than to eat meat of cattle that are so cruelly treated in a slaughter-house.  

Jody weighed a little over 1,000 pounds.  Dairy animals butcher out at about 50%, so that's around 500 pounds of beef, mostly ground.  The oldest grandson and Heather are paying for the processing at the butcher shop, and for that they get half the meat.  

I chose not to put any pictures of Jody in this entry.  If you want to see pictures of her, just type "Jody" in the search feature at the upper left-hand corner of my blog.  Many entries, with pictures, will come up.

Helping cows to cope with their fears

The two grown cows, Bonnie and Jody, had no problem going through the opening in the electric fence to get to the clover, as I mentioned in another entry.  I had to lead Gracie through twice before she got the idea, and it took four times of being led into the clover for Penny to get the idea; but this morning she made it.  That left three bovines outside the clover:  Jenny, George, and Crystal, who are not tame enough to lead.  
Yesterday I told Cliff, "I think if we rigged something up with a couple of panels so it would look to the cows like they were going through an opening in a regular fence instead of an electric fence, we could get them all in there."  
Cliff couldn't see why I was so worried about getting them all into the clover field, since there is plenty of grazing outside that area.  But he's used to patronizing my whims.  (I want them on that clover because it's higher in protein than plain old grass, so they can grow faster, make more milk, grow a nicer calf, etc.)  

So here's what Cliff did.  Instead of concentrating on the nearby "hot wire", the cows would now feel as though they were going through an ordinary fenced entryway.  You've probably figured out by now that cows aren't all that bright.  

All but one of my cows will now enter to eat the clover.  That white one that you can see between two other cows, in the distance?  That's George.  He's on the outside, keeping as close to his herd as possible.  

If all else fails, he can hang out with the horses.  Poor Lonesome George.