by Jan Fielden
The other day we gave the cows in the Middle Herd some Meal in order to help with the hay we are now feeding full out. Of course, all the cows rushed to the feeder and our little darling, Lucinda, could not get in line. She is not aggressive at all, on the rather small size for a 3-year-old, and is actually a loner. Her mother died giving birth to her and we raised her along with another calf that we called Leroy. Leroy had lost his mother too but she had lived a while after giving birth. Lucinda had long been turned out into the herd along with Leroy. He was later sold. They were great friends and once he was gone I guess she just didn’t want another friend.
We had some hay left in the trough from when we had a round up to sell some steers and heifers. So, we called Lucinda over and worked her into the corral along with a couple of other cows that came along about the same time. We left them all in there over night and they ate almost all of the hay. But the next morning we thought it best to turn everyone out. The others went as soon as the gate was opened but Lucinda stayed there as if she couldn’t make up her mind to stay or go. Finally she came on out. Today, I looked out the front window and saw her down at the corral staring at the gate. I am sure she was hoping to get in there again and thought if she just waited a while we would come open the gate.
After a long while, she finally gave up and moseyed on to the other side of the lake where the rest of the cows were. The Red Oak Ranch must have cows with good memories!!
