Broke my heart to sell our Cow, But they Need her Badly

You see, we have a cow in mastitis, Flossie, so she's gonna need a lot of care. All right, it's 6:40, so I'm gonna get Flossie out right now, and then again at 9:30 to milk, treat her then. Got up early this morning. It couldn't happen at a better time in pasture rotation. She's got the closest pasture. We've also sold her calf today, so it's going to be absolutely crazy. She just got up, so she just dropped Holy cow squat! First checkup, 6:30 AM. She does look full though. You can look right here on the cow's side and there's a true deep, deep triangle there if they're not full. I just started with a pound of alfalfa, organic alfalfa, half a cup of apple cider vinegar. When it's acute When she has an acute illness like this, we're going to give her a cup and a half over the day and then some vitamin C powder on top. She's not absolutely thrilled for the vitamin C or the apple cider vinegar, but she will eat it with the alfalfa. This is the test. Is she getting better? I love temp chips because there's no guessing. You just test and they are getting better or they're not. Are you kidding me? It's not here. I'm looking for the thermometer. You know where we might have put it? All right, we mounted a mineral feeder on here to hold all our stuff. This would make sense, but it's not there. Okay, that's weird, but we'll take it. We found it.

Yay!

101.7. It got up to 106 yesterday. 101. I'm excited because yeah, that's hot for a human, but that's actually normal for a cow. 103 is a temperature for a cow. Yes, Flossie, you're kicking this! Let's put this back where it makes sense. Good for you, kicking this, honey! You're kicking this, kicking this like a champ. You don't have enough temperature. I feel bad because I feel like it's my fault. I feel like I I didn't milk you out enough, you know, after we weaned Bessie. Did I milk you out enough? I'm sorry, I just feel terrible. It makes no problem being diligent about fixing this, especially if it was my fault, honey. Just got to milk them out really good when they're not calf sharing. I guess I'm not used to that. I've got to get this She's very cooperative. I'm surprised you're still going to stand, you know, and this is kind of— she's the droolingest thing. You know what I forgot? A hot compress. You know, while we're sitting here in the kitchen filling this up, we're in the— we're towards the end of the kitchen renovation. Randolph actually might get done today. Pretty close anyway. Another test is to feel her udder and see if it's still swollen. It is, but it doesn't seem quite as— putting this hot compress on there. Still sensitive, honey. There's still yet another test, and that's milking. Is the milk Clearing up. Is it still yellowish? Still chunky? It's not as chunky. Yellow still though. Basically milked her until I could squeeze 5 times and get nothing out. Organic buttercream. It's kind of like an Icy Hot. Get some blood flowing. All right, Miss Thing. Get you out. We'll see you again at 9:30. Oh snap, that's better. We were gonna put a shade cloth over that thing, but we were afraid they would get leggy like this reaching for the sun. Well, they're getting leggy anyway, us having to put them in when it rains. Maybe not getting them out on time. I don't know, going back and forth with this table. I'm thinking we need to get a shade cloth on this thing, maybe peel it back if it starts getting leggy. Yeah, we gotta— I mean, this is a nice structure. Let's try to use it. All right, I did all the chores minus the forest pigs and the sea monsters. That's something the boys can easily do, it's not pressing. Looking at our two heifers out there. One of them's leaving today. Bessie's getting picked up today. Uh, Nellie's— we're dropping her off tomorrow. So big weekend. Okay, it's 7:30. Not bad, not bad. It's for 24 hours. That's right, we got 500,000 subscribers. I'm gonna live with the chickens for 24 hours. All right, just got crazier because we realized we got to get a health certificate for Bessie if she's going across state lines, so the vet said they could do it. We just got to take her to them. Can I borrow my dad's truck? [PHONE RINGING] [Speaker:PETER] Hello. Hey, Pop. Hey. How's it going? Well, pretty good. Good. Eating biscuits and sausage gravy. Okay. You think we could borrow the truck today as well? Uh, yeah. Second checkup, 9:30 AM. What'd you say?

I gave her apple cider vinegar.

Okay, you put it in alfalfa? How much alfalfa did you give her?

I just gave her— I couldn't find a scoop. I just gave her a little bit. I know, just to get her in. Um, I'll go look for the scoop elsewhere, probably in the alfalfa bag. Then this is her XL 7000. Okay, ready to get— be given. I was pretty sure that everything we did yesterday is why her temperature is down now.

Wash her off and milk her.

Okay, great.

Oh hey, got kicked first time.

Was it as bad as you thought?

Nope. Oh good, she's gonna set it up on me. Okay, so she's not as, uh, she's not as full inflated. She is a little more irritated though right now.

Well, she also doesn't have alfalfa. Oh, do you want me to give her some alfalfa?

Um, yeah, give her a scoop.

See if that changes things.

Oh wow, look what that nearly is.

Yellow.

Yeah. I guess I'll get this one milked out and then clean her up again.

It's a good idea.

And then milk the other one. Yeah, looks like we got about a gallon and a half. Not bad for a cow with mastitis. All right, how many?

Um, just do the whole dozen.

Okay. Grandma's watching the kids, making a breakfast. You're gonna take me to get the truck? The, uh, the crews here to work up the firewood. We got a bunch of logs when Grandma and Big Daddy cleared for their house up there, and we hired this crew to work it up into firewood for us. Best deal on firewood so far. And then we had to go and borrow my dad's truck so that we could take the trailer, so we could take Bessie in town, so that we could get the health certificate for Bessie so she can cross the state line to Kentucky. All right, let's go. This is insane. Our lives.

So crazy sometimes.

Okay, so we're gonna meet her at the vet. We're gonna get the truck. It's 10:20. Uh, get back. Pretty much get Bessie loaded. We have to leave by like 11.

So basically you're gonna eat your meal in a bowl. Okay, try.

Okay, almost there.

So we're going to— do we need to give a rope halter to the lady?

Uh, we can just give it, I guess.

Well, shoot, do we have a rope halter?

If we can find our extra one. We kind of need our one right now for Bessie, or for Flossie.

I know. Well, I knew we had an extra, so I was wondering, should we do that one?

Oh crap, we should if we could find it. No, I know about this. Okay, the, the mower's in the back. I'm just going I'm gonna back right there and unload it.

All right, I'm gonna drop you off and go. Okay, because, um, okay, I'm gonna get breakfast started and not finished.

Okay, good morning. Oh, you're talking to your phone? Good morning. I'm talking to you. Okay, good, good. How you doing? Well, I'm doing pretty good. Good. See my motto? Who you may be Whatever you resolve to be, preach. Right. Okay, thank you. All right, all right, thanks. Okay, uh, now you'll have it through tomorrow, right? Yes, sir. Is that all right? Yeah. Okay, good. Okay. You did that safe. All right, let's go get this trailer. All right, do you think you can back me up, Josiah?

Yeah.

Okay, so you kind of have to put your hands up in the air so I can see you through the window, and you got to get my tongue— you got to get my ball right under that. Gideon, you got to get over there, honey. Gideon, get over there where it's safe. Over there, Josiah. It's actually safer if you stand to the side. May not be as easy for you, but— and then I can see you too. All right, straight on. Okay, yeah, yeah, I think cranking it to the right.

Yeah, watch out, Gideon.

I guess you'll have to go a little this way.

Okay.

I'm gonna come ahead towards you. Oh, we overshot it. Ready? Oh, it's close. Whoa, I'm way too— okay, how do people do this? Let's do a spine. Close. Oh, too far. All right, let's see if we can do it. Let's put some weight on it. Pull up. Haha! Yay!

Can I get a—

sure, get her a flake of hay. Bestie! But that's right, Josiah just went out there and got her. Uh, I couldn't get her, I had to go make a phone call to get the buyer's address. Uh, Josiah went and got her. There she is. Can you get her in? Wow, it's impressive.

Come on, she's doing the flop.

All right, you want to herd her and I'll pull her? Sure. Come on, go. All right, bless you, Bessie. Oh, that's kind of you, Lily. How do you think she's doing back there, Josiah?

Uh, I think she's doing good.

I haven't heard anything. No thumping around. We're there. How'd she do, Josiah?

She's a little scared.

She's doing good. How you doing, sweet thing? Doing great. You can tell she's a little startled. We're gonna go ahead and get turned around while we're waiting on them. You bored, Josiah?

Yeah.

We've been waiting 20 minutes. Can't complain too much because We have no appointment. We call them this morning and they're gonna see us. They're fitting us in somewhere. I've given the addresses to the nurse. The doctor, who's back behind there giving a horse a shot. Need help holding her? Yeah, I'll let you hold her. Good, good. We just got the tag. She did well for getting a ears pierced, and we're just waiting on the paperwork, the number from the, I guess, the Kentucky folks. I don't know. All right, so it's 12:15. How long we been here? An hour? Okay, so we got the tag. They say we're waiting on some paperwork. Okay, they're still waiting on something. They gotta get back from— it's like 1:06. Almost 2 hours. This was not a day where we had 2 hours. Uh, but anyway, uh, they just thought of it. They can email us it. Oh my gosh, we are home. How's it going, Randolph? Oh, I'm here for now. Get some bead board in. Good deal. Yeah, that stuff was amazing. Is that aggravating? Is it worse than you thought? Yeah, it's about as bad as it could get. Oh, I'm sorry. What's wrong? Stuff's so thin, it's hard to get it to go in the little groove. Ah. And the ceiling's kind of wavy looking. Ah. We'll struggle with it, I reckon. Okay. If anybody can do it, it's you, buddy. Yep, we'll give her our best shot. Okay, thank you. Test number 1, is she eating? She is smack dab full. Test number 2: is she hot? She doesn't feel hot. Let's see if she's got a clear— clear— oh look, that's still yellowish. Oh, still some chunks in it too. Look who's here, the proud new owners of Aunt Bessie! Summer, Jeremy. Yes. And Christine. Christine. Boy, it looks like you're going to a good bunch.

Yeah, I'm so happy he's going to be able to drink real milk. Yeah, yeah, store-bought milk.

So that's why you're doing this? Yeah, you need raw A2-A2 milk.

A2-A2, yeah.

Okay. Oh my gosh, she's so cute! Hi, pretty girl!

Hi, it's okay.

She's a little shy. It's okay.

Do you want to smell my hand? We already love you. You're so cute. Is there any place she doesn't like to be touched?

Yeah, so right now that makes them a little nervous. Under the head? They like it over the head. But listen, if you, if you come and you pet her and, and every day for a couple of weeks bring her some alfalfa, she'll let you pet. She'll love it when you pet her neck. Okay, because the ones that are trained to that just feels so good to them. Okay, they'll be stretching out their neck for you to scratch them.

Great. Oh, so, so we're originally from California.

Okay, how long have you been here?

4 months now.

Whoa!

Yeah, I was thinking it was 3, but as of August 1st, it's 4 months. So we're from the Silicon Valley.

Silicon Valley.

We went from tech world to farm world.

Okay, yeah, we love it. New York City bought our other cow.

Yeah, that's right.

So now you guys are from Silicon Valley. I don't know which one's more city.

Yeah, I don't know. Well, I'll tell you, it's great to be out of California.

Okay, you're not regretting it, huh?

Oh my gosh, no. Okay, no way. When he was born, he, um, ended up having a reaction to the, uh, the K vitamin that they give them.

Vitamin K shot?

Yeah. And so he almost died from that. From then on, it was just, you know, allergies all over. He had a lot of different allergies. He also had leaky gut, so I treated him for 4 years, just nursing him, giving him just raw whole foods.

Jeremy, good for you. If you need to get in, that's fine.

Come here, you have to stay with us. We were able to give him really good probiotics, organic food, and cure him in about 4 years. I mean, he was still an infant, so he had to go to the doctor every week, the cardiologist, pediatrician, all these doctors.

He's wandering off again. I know. Yeah, well, that cat— just having the cow, it's gonna be therapy.

Yes.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Oh, you are so, so cute.

Hey, do you guys want some of the raw milk now? You want some of our mom's milk?

Do you want to try the milk?

You want some?

Yes.

Okay, can we put her— are you done looking at her? We'll put her back in the stall, Jonah. And then when— no, it'd probably be better if she goes back and stall with the hay in the water. Jeremy, look what I got you, buddy. Can we lure him back with milk?

Come on up here.

Here, why don't you take some?

You want butter? What? Oh, how is it?

I like it.

Can I try it? That's all for you, that whole cup. You and your family. Yeah.

Oh, that's like melted ice cream.

It is.

Oh my gosh.

Melted ice cream, I like it.

Oh wow, that is so good. You're gonna love it. It's like ice cream.

Come here, try. Come on.

I'll sip, you're gonna like it. It's so good.

Do you like it? Do you like it?

Yeah.

It's good, huh?

Good.

Would you like some more? You can hold it on your own.

There.

You wanna see the cow, huh? What were you doing, popping your neck?

Yeah.

'Cause the chiropractor does it?

I think this is a beep.

Pop?

A big pop.

Enjoy that milk. That cup's for you guys. Truck is here. It's an exciting day.

It is a very exciting day. She's not wanting to go. She's— oh, she's pulling.

I, I can't think of a better family than, than you guys and a better purpose for her life. Yes, how amazing.

We will absolutely love her.

Good.

Look forward to getting a male when she's older. About 2 years old, right? She can be bred about—

I would say 20 months, so a little less than 2 years. Okay. All right, Rebecca's gonna say her goodbyes. Jenna, let's get a picture right there by the North Carolina flag.

All right, 1, 2, 3.

Are you sad?

Here, take a picture of him.

Yeah, you trained her well.

She was a good girl. She kicked, she kicked you, remember that?

She kicked me.

Oh yeah, she, she used to be feisty. She kicked me a couple times. Here, ready? Smile. Did you want to be on the loan, Rebecca?

No.

Okay, she was a baby and she just went— I mean, it was like barely a kick, but it was—

she kicked the bag. She hasn't—

she's pretty—

they all need a little training.

Yeah.

And for her to go with you even when she's nervous is going to take some training. All right, so we'll give her some pressure from the back.

Are we giving this?

Yeah, well, yeah, that'll help you. At least you'll have a leash, and I'd suggest the rope, rope halter. I don't think you can just pick them up though. You're probably gonna have to order one, but this leash will get you by.

You can get her in there, Papa.

You can get her. Need some help? Bye-bye, honey. You make a family happy.

It's kind of sad.

I know. What?

I want to see how she reacts when he moves.

You gonna be okay? Yeah. Shh. Oh my gosh, it's light out. There's no noise. And it's 7:42. No noise.

And we don't have to brush anybody's teeth.

Grandma's got the kids. Amy and Aruna have got the kids. We don't have to brush nobody's teeth. We don't have to tell Amanda, no, be quiet, go to sleep. I don't have to tell you to be quiet and go to sleep. No, you don't. You just—

That's hilarious.

All right, let's celebrate. Chocolate, chocolate balls.

Chocolate peanut butter balls.

I know I should start— what if children acted What if adults act like children in the bed? I would be jumping up and down, I'd be sitting up, I'd be turning on the light, be screaming out. I'd be bothering you.

I was hoping that would break free.

I'd be getting out. I'd be, of course, thirsty and wanting to talk. At bedtime. Come on, you gonna eat them all?

Mm-mm. I'm breaking them apart.

Cheers.