The POUNDLANE Spaniel
  • Welcome
  • Home
    • Getting A Puppy From Poundlane
    • Guide To Buying A Puppy
  • What's going on at Poundlane 2010 to 2020

Bringing in the cows

21/10/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture'Bringing in the cows' by Gregory Moore
As well as rearing our children and looking after our dogs, I also work part-time milking cows. I've been milking cows now for 28 years. When asked why I milk cows the answer simply is, "For some strange reason I enjoy it". I could get all romantic now and tell about as a young child I used to stay on a friends farm and how I would stand at the end of the parlour from the age of 5 waiting for the farmer to tell me how many pulls on a handle I had to do to release cake, as each cow came in the parlour or the summer I spent starring at the summer sky with a cow I called "99" because that was her brand mark, I did not realise at that time she was a barren cow and it was her last summer lying in the grass with the sun on her back, but I know the enjoyment she showed when my little hands would caress and smooth her, her last summer was a good summer. My Mum would call for me and say, "What are you doing up there in the field with that old cow?" No, milking cows ain't for the romantic.

With 28 years of milking there is a lot to tell. The only problems is recalling the tales. Often a tale is recalled because something of a similar nature happening joults the old grey matter. So tales are told as they are recalled. Today though is a tale from this summer, so still freshly ingrained in to the grey matter. Around four months ago I was milking the weekend and on the Sunday morning I strolled out across the field around 5.30am to bring the cows in to be milked. I noticed one of the cows stood a bit peculiar with her head slung low and not moving on with the rest of the cows. I got up next to her and putting my hand on her hindquarters told her to, "Get on, girl" Rather than move she just kept sharply turning back on me and first impressions I thought she was trying to be a bit bullish with me, but with a bit of waving of arms and shooing she moved off, although at a rapid rate down towards the gate, but she missed the gate way and ended up head first in the hedge. I got down beside her and tried to get her back out of the hedge and on doing so, on trying to move her again, she would again keep turning towards me as if trying to knock me over. Then she ran into the hedge again and thus proceeded to bulldoze down through the hedge. By this time I was starting to consider that she could not see or she was in the throws of dying. I have seen cows behave similar to this just before dropping down dead.  

Picture'Cattle in the Glens' by Gregory Moore
I left her, because at that moment there was nothing I could do without seriously risking my own health with her and proceeded in getting the rest of the cows in. Once the rest of the cows were in the yard I ran to the house to get the farmer, I work for to go and take a look at her. When I knocked on the door, Steve was on his way out, which surprised me. He's wife told me later, that he was already up when I knocked, because they heard a gate go in the yard that I don't normally use, which had alerted them that something was up.
I told Steve about the cow and remarked, "The way she is behaving, I think she might be blind." I got on milking the cows and waited on news of the cow. Steve returned about twenty minutes later to tell me he had found her up on her back in the corner of the field and had got her on her side and he was of the mind that she could be dying. He rang the vet though and the vet turned up. Confirmed she was blind and then it was why had a cow that came in the parlour the night before totally fit and well, could be totally blind by the morning without a mark on her. The vet thought it could possibly be two things, a vitamin B1 deficiency or meningitis. Vitamin B1 deficiency can cause blindness and meningitis can cause inflammation behind the eye leading to temporary blindness. He treated the cow for both and took bloods to try and discover what the cause was. I milked in the evening and the cow was then comfortable out in the field up grazing and when I milked a couple days later in the morning the cow merrily skipped into the parlour, apparently able to see okay.. No other cows have gone blind and in 28 years milking that was a first for me, going out in the field to find a cow totally blind from being okay the day before and was also a first for the farmer I work for. As for the cow, she is now heavy in calve due to be dried off soon. A week later the blood results came back with nothing, inconclusive and just shows how much we think we know, working with animals you realise, there will always be more that we don't know. ​

1 Comment
Margaret Wynn
21/10/2015 05:28:11 pm

What a wonderful blog Jane, so glad the cow was OK in the end. What a tale to tell your grandchildren! I love the pictures too, they really capture the mood of life in the farming sector. I have a limited edition print called "Brown Cow" it is a herd of black/white cows with one brown one by an artist called Patrick Oxenham, the expressions on the faces of the cows fascinates me.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    “The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you,but he will make a fool of himself, too.” 
    ― Samuel Butler
    Picture
    Me (Jane) with Puddin' and Teagol, waiting patiently to flush a patch of kale, December 2019

    Author

    Hello, I am Jane!
    You might of guessed, I love dogs. My family and me are situated in the North Devon countryside, England, United Kingdom. Our home is occupied by my husband, David, our children, pack of dogs and me.
    On this page you can find out what we are up to.
    ​Watch our litters growing day by day.
    Also regular updates on how our pups are getting on in their new homes.
    If you want to know more about what we are doing, you can ring me (Jane) on 01769 560969 for a friendly chat. 

    Archives

    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All

Where we are

Contacting us

We ask that first contact to be done by phone. I (Jane) can be contacted by phone at 01769 560969 for a friendly, no pressure chat.
  • Welcome
  • Home
    • Getting A Puppy From Poundlane
    • Guide To Buying A Puppy
  • What's going on at Poundlane 2010 to 2020