Absolutely Exhausted

Well, the fence is finally all done. The cow and new calves are here. Norman is adjusting to his adopted family well. Buck is loving his extended family and new play area. The step daughter and grand daughter are doing extremely well and Lilli is getting so big already. The future son-in-law is doing good if his future wife hasn't killed him after the auction today. The sun was shining all day and life is great!

Our new cow is in rough shape due to lack of nutrition but she will come around in no time. She is far from the perfect cow right now but with a little bit of TLC she will be doing great in no time. I can't help but think about all of the animals that have come here to a good home that way. The oldest one and the one that was in the worst shape was our bloodhound Rosie. She was so thin and so scared of everything. It is amazing to think back on her transformation from then until now. The next to come was Buck. He wasn't in bad shape, but his life sure has taken a different twist than it was destined for. He was actually headed to the auction barn, which 90% of young calves end up at either the rendering plant or into veal, and probably would not still be alive. Next came the chickens, which have a better life here than they would have almost anywhere else. Then came the turkeys. Some of them had a short life, as they were actually raised for meat birds and landed on a few thanksgiving dinner tables or in our freezer. Next came Raven, the bluetick coonhound, that was owned by a guy who had other extremely aggressive dogs and didn't properly care for her. She was thin, covered in fleas, had an ear infection and unfortunaly timid. To see her today, you would never know what she was like when she came here to live with us. Next came the adopted chicks, that are still living under a heat lamp in the "dining room" of our house. The get clean bedding everyday and spoiled by the kids. Next comes the newest additions. Give it a couple of months of good food and room to have fresh green grash and you will never know that she looked as bad as she does today. She reminds me of an overgrown version of how Rosie was when we got her! It makes me sad for her and angry at her previous owner.
Please, anyone out there that might be reading this....If you have an animal, remember that they are committed to you. If for some reason you can not take care of them anymore...Please find them a new home! There are plenty of people around who would love and care for them the way they deserve. It isn't fair to them and if you choose them, you should do the right thing by them and make someone else happy.....BTW...I LOVE that I now own a cow. This was one of the things on my life's list of things that I always wanted but never thought I would get to have.
For anyone who wants to know why I care for my animals the way I do....A lesson from the Bible, Book of Genesis 1:26-20. I respect the world around me and everything in it because God blessed me with life here on Earth to care for all he has created. "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so."
May God Bless You.