Episode#59: We bring a day old calf home in the pickup

 It was January 1971 I was 13 years old and we had been living in the country for about a year and a half. Since we had lived here on this 45 acres my dad had purchased several cows over the past year and a couple of them had been bred so we were expecting to have some calves soon. As I find out, ideally you would like to have calves born during the winter as there are fewer germs and the cow's labor is usually not as hard on them as it is in the heat of the summer. 

It was quite cold that night and one of the cows delivered a calf that was still born. This does not happen often in my experience, but it did that night. When we get up that morning and find the dead calf, we bury it and go over to our nearest neighbor, Mr. Frank Davis.

Mr. and Mrs. Davis were both in their mid 80s and had lived in their current house for many decades and they kept an eye out for me and Danny as both of my folks worked in Denton. Any time a storm would blow in, Mrs. Ella Davis would call us and let us know that 'there is a cloud coming and we should come on over and get in the cellar with me and Frank'.  We never wanted to, but knowing that they were concerned for us we would walk over and get in with them as they waited at the door of the old concrete storm cellar just outside there front door. 

The Davis' had lived most of their lives in Cooke County and had once served as County Commissioner and he knew a lot of the folks around the area. They were very good people. My dad wanted to buy a young calf that is still nursing if he could find one to put with the cow that had just lost the calf we just buried, so we walk over to their place for a visit.

Mr. Davis was always a very kind person and a good neighbor, always willing to help when he could. As it turns out, he knows a guy that owns a dairy near Valley View that had a couple of new born Holstein calves. One thing about a dairy operator is they are always building their herds so they can produce and sell more milk, but they always want heifers and have no use for bull calves. Mr. Davis calls the guy and tells him our story and asks him if he knows of anyone that might have a new born bull calve and he had one that was born on his place only 4 days earlier.

With this information me, my dad and Mr. Davis crawl in our 1967 Ford pick up and head to a dairy near Valley View which is about 25 miles away. As we are driving there it suddenly occurs to me that we did not hook up to our stock trailer and I am wondering how we are going to get this calf home. It is almost freezing and I know that this calf will not lay down in the bed of the truck as we drove home so I ask how this will happen. 

Mr. Davis says in his gentle and country way 'well son, I guess he is just going to have to ride in here with us'. I said, 'oh, ok' not thinking this was even a possibility. We arrive at the dairy and meet the owner and he takes us to look at the calf. They agree on a price of $20 for the calf and we get back in my dad's truck and head home with me, my dad, Mr. Davis and this 4 day old calf.

The calf is pretty calm for the most part as the truck is warm and it was very cold outside. Mr. Davis kind of holds the calve in a way that he wraps his arms arm around the calf's legs so that he won't kick and keeps him secured. I am surprised how calm this new calf is but he must have enjoyed the ride. The only incident on the entire trip home was about halfway there the calf has to take a poop and he does so there and then on Mr. Davis' coat and it is foul!

I have to tell you, I was a bit mortified at this development. Seldom does a calf this young have solid poop, rather they are usually pretty fluid. After the calf was finished with his business, Mr. Davis looks at me and says, 'well son, it looks like Ella has a coat to wash when I get home' and just laughed it off.

We get home a short time later and get the calf with his new mother and he took to her and the cow took to the calf. As a young boy I am seeing how nature works and am thankful for this opportunity.