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the mentally ill calf

balestabber

Well-known member
out ride'n the lot---early one morn
a check'n some heifers---i found a newborn
his eyes were glassy---as he looked into the sky
he couldn't find a teat---and i wondered why?

his tongue was swollen---hang'n out the side of his mouth
he was have'n trouble stand'n---and fall'n to the south
he had not ate---and seem to be blind
so i headed for the barn---to find a bottle of some kind

i fought with the calf---till my patience was thru
but with a belly full of milk---his bowels had worked too
now i'll add to my chores---a bucket calf still
blind and slow ---and mentally ill

a few weeks later---i find him astray
he had made it thru a gate---towards the end of a day
tangled up in a brush pile---down in a revene
his glassy eyes ---were all to be seen

his immune system was weak---his lungs with pneumonia
he had ring worm and lice---and now diarrea
with my profits now at a loss---i continued to nurse
a blind stupid calf---with a battling curse

life was look'n dim---tho kind of a blur
so i gave him a name---like herkermur
he died sometime later---the memories i mourn
of the mentally ill calf---i found as a newborn



written by richard
2010
 

Mrs Leanin' H

Well-known member
Great poem! It reminds me of a little holstien heifer calf I was given by the dairy I worked at. She was born blind and mentally handicapped. We gave her a regimen of vitamin E and selenium. She came around quite a bit, but never got her sight. I got up before school every day to bottle feed her, and then again after school. I'd play with her and lead her around. One night I left her out in the pasture and a terrible lightening storm came through. I ran out and she was just standing very still and when she heard me calling, started coming to my voice. I got her in the barn and all was well. I sold her to a neighbor so I could buy a colt, the one I lost just before christmas. He raised her up and used her for a milk cow. He said she was the queen of the herd and would run everyone else off the feed. I learned great lessons from her, especially because of her conditions.
 

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