Yesterday was a hard day.  The hay storage room of the cow barn is now empty – not so much a comment on the amount of hay in it as the fact that Kitty isn’t there anymore.  My dear, precious mini jersey is gone.  Last Thursday morning Jeff found her fallen, stuck in the mud, belly bloated & legs sticking up in the air, but still alive.  It was a horrible sight.  We got her upright, blanketed, and had the vet come out to IV some goodies into her.  She was hypothermic, hypoglycemic and too weak to get up on her feet.  We had to get her into the barn.

Jeff rigged up a “sled” out of a piece of metal to pull behind the tractor.  We rolled her onto it and dragged her to the barn, where we rolled her into the hay storage area through the garage door.  She spent the next 4 days there, laying on a bed of hay, with us trying to get her to try to stand up.  Instead, she just got weaker and eventually gave up.  I finally had the vet come back yesterday to put her down.  I spent some time sitting with her before he got here, petting her & loving on her, and telling her what a good girl she was & that I was sorry this was the only thing I could do for her anymore.  And now the hay room is empty.

So, goodbye, Kitty my dear.  You were such a sweet cow, such a wonderful momma.  Thank you for what you’ve given to us.  I will truly miss you. 

Goodbye.

These cold, dark winter evenings are a good time for curling up in front of the fire with a hot mug & a good book.  It’s a great time to get your farming education.  Before you buy your first cow you’ll want some good resources on the bookshelf and as much information as you can fit in your head.  The selection of books available is about overwhelming & it can be hard to figure out which ones will be really helpful.  I certainly haven’t read everything, but I have found several that are great & some that were not so great.  Here’s my recommended reading list to get you headed in the right direction.
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