It is Quite Chilly Today... - Simply Woman Magazine

• Tweet
• Pin It

It is quite chilly today though not nearly as harsh as an Alberta winter can be. Although I have been in the house for awhile I still feel chilled from being outside.

I am so grateful and feeling satisfied after having checked on the animals as they are all okay and have enough feed, clean dry bedding, grain and water. I am grateful that the automatic water bowls are not frozen as sometimes happens in cold winter weather.

I cooked supper for myself while I warmed up. Later I will put on a headlamp to walk among the cattle to make sure that all is still with them before I turn in for the night. Usually, if all is still and quiet, I know that none of them are in distress. Just knowing that brings me peace.

Feeling warmed by my supper I dress in my heavy jacket and put on boots to check on the herd once again before settling in for the night myself. As I walk softly among them I speak gently to let them know it is me checking to see that none of the calves are in distress. The horses nicker softly acknowledging my presence. I tell them, “No more oats tonight. Wait for tomorrow”.

I look up and see a deep indigo dome filled with sparkling stars. The air is crisp and filled with the comforting sounds of cattle settling in for the night.

I go check on the pigs and they are burrowed into the hay and piled upon each other-the little heaters- making it a challenge to count all fourteen of them. They reply with grunts when I ask, “Are you guys all here”? My dogs accompany me on my rounds and I laugh because Bella, the Black Lab, does her own checking and attempts to nuzzle each pig! Blue, my Heeler, always the dignified guardian, sits back and awaits the command should I require assistance.

My last stop is the pen where my three heifers share space with two more heifers and a bull calf, apart from the rest of the herd because they require a little extra TLC. They have responded so well to the loving attention, feed and treats that they now come close enough to eat out of my hand. I am so pleased! I admit to spoiling my heifers.

I do desire to share a bit of the heifers’ stories with you. Maybe it will help those of you reading this article to comprehend what our industrialized (agri-industry) society has done to farm animals and therefore, to ourselves.

I started working in an Alberta feedlot March 21, 2014, without knowing that it would start me on a remarkable life-changing journey. I was hired to clean corrals because of my extensive experience with excavation equipment. I grew up on a family farm not far from the feedlot where I am now employed.

I felt excited and exhilerated at the sight of such a large number of cattle. I love the odor of cattle and manure, hay and mud. I love the sound of their ‘mooing’. I knew that this work was not going to provide me the income that I had become accustomed to as a heavy equipment operator but I love it. The length of time I spend cleaning the corrals doesn’t matter because I love every second. After work people tell me that I smell bad but it doesn’t matter.

I share this next experience with you because of the monumental impact it had on me. One of the pens held a group of sick cattle one of which was a blind steer. Thank God that this feedlot recognized their need for extra attention and care. The steer, because he couldn’t see, was constantly in the way of the excavator and I had to continually get down and push him out of the way. At the end of the day when I shut the gate I knew that something here was not right.

While fueling up the excavator that night i received an invitation to stop by after work for a visit and a beer with a childhood friend. She is also the daughter of a farmer and raises cattle. I shared with her my experience and distress about the blind steer. We discussed the issue of supply and demand of the consumer market. I decided, with a sigh, that change would not come about through my complaining. I needed to discuss the issue with the people at the feedlot and pour my love and compassion into the herd I would one day have.

I did bring up the issue at the feedlot the next morning and the steer was ‘put out of his misery’. You may be upset about by this though, why let the animal suffer? Feedlots have hundreds of cattle and it is a challenge to recognize all of the difficulties that cattle may face. This, again, is yet another condition we, as a society, have created and allowed.

Within the next few days a beautiful bald face heifer was born in one of the pens. I was so excited because I had already told my employer that I would take all of the babies. None of the cows sold to feedlots are supposed to be pregnant and ‘preg tests’ are not mandatory so calves are born in feedlots.

The weather was mild the afternoon of the birth of my first ‘baby’ though by evening it changed to miserable. I wasn’t, in the least, prepared to care for a new-born calf. Nevertheless, I took her home and into the house. I then had to hurry out to buy the necessary bottles, nipples and colostrum. The heifer, my baby, drank her colostrum and responded well.

Two days later I was called to rescue another new-born calf. The mother was being loaded onto a truck heading for the slaughter house. This heifer, unlike the first one, was born in miserable weather, still had afterbirth clinging on her and was cold. I started my truck and placed her in it for the time being as I had to put out fresh bedding in feedlot calf pens. I am grateful to my employer. When I got back to the truck it reeked of manure but the new baby was up! This heifer also required colostrum from a bottle since her mamma was never allowed the opportunity to clean her baby, nuzzle her or encourage her to stand on her hooves and suckle colostrum from momma’s teets. Here, again, is what we have created and allow to continue.

Missy is the name I have given to my latest baby. Though she has some health issues, Missy consumes the colostrum in intervals over a period of twenty-four hours and responds well. I held my breath though for the next ten days! Calves born under stressful conditions such as cold, wet weather, with no opportunity to nurse soon after birth have a low rate of survival. My concern for their survival, the health of my babies, the time, energy and money are all worth it when I see them thriving.

The next calf born is also a heifer and I named her Muffin. Coincidence? I now have three heifer from the feedlot to start my own herd of cattle!

Because cattle in feedlots are fed for maximum weight gain and growth and not to support pregnant cows, Muffin arrived with a variety of health issues. She was similar to a human ‘crack baby’. It took lots of cuddling and holding her down over a period of two days to convince her to drink the colostrum. I awakened frequently to check on her because of her issues. Though Muffin is the smallest and the one most requiring extra attention she is just so beautiful and I love her!

I share this with you because I so support what farming used to be and can be again. Maybe I can make a difference and maybe, people will make better choices. I grew up on a farm and we ate beef, poultry and pork. None of our animals suffered any stress. I love and care for animals more than I do for myself sometimes.

I just so desire to bring farming practices back to what they were before farming became agri-industry. People have lost or buried their compassion and love for the animals and the  land. Hearts have become hardened in this change. What do we, as a society, need to do to allow the abundance of love and compassion to flow again, to bring about the balance again?

I applaud all the rescue societies and the vegetarians and vegans though there are still people who eat meat and poultry. Maybe you will decide not to order that burger or steak or bacon and eggs. We all have a Right to choice. My question is: How can we reverse this attitude towards animals, the land, farming? How can we soften the hardened hearts?

Jaci practices true honesty in her life, has a degree in life experience, a deep love of animals, and has the ability to leave an imprint on other people’s lives.  After spending time with her, I promise you, her passion and love for life is contagious as well as unforgettable.