08/05/2026
Update on New Girl 🐄
We have finally come up with a name that fits her personality and her demanding "moooo" : Everyone meet Maude AKA "Ma"
Ma's Story: I got a call from my mentor asking me what I was doing and how I was. I told her I just had a baby - she she said oh what timing! She knew someone with a jersey that needed to be picked up by someone but she didnt have the room. This jersey had a possible bad foot abcess, was super skinny, and needed flat ground to land on before she ended up in a freezer.
So it was an easy yes for us - given the crazy life circumstances at home. When is life ever chill enough to bring on a rescue in the midst of everything else going on. Just having a newborn and our truck was in the shop for over a month.
So a week and a half later one of my best friends gave me a ride with the trailer 3 hours one way to go pick up this sweet Jersey who needed a little TLC.
After a chaotic ride home, and her falling in the trailer twice she finally made it to softer grounds.
Several days after getting her I had an appointment with the farrier to treat her foot. Well it was no abcess but she had club foot, and hairy hoof wart. Which can be treated but still carries other risk of its own. However with treatments and precautionary measures, she can live a happy life and live on the farm.
From getting Maude here, only walking on 3 legs and walking on her ankle of her back foot from being very tender. After 3 days of getting treated she started walking normally. Within that week, she was bucking around her isolation pasture and really came into her personality.. A little over 2 weeks later with a healed foot, and a little extra weight, we finally turned her out to be with the rest of the herd!
Coming from a very steep mountain side with a hoof problem, now being able to run on some flat lands with no pain. Its like the cows played a friendly game of tag, and took turns chasing one another.
Maude has really found her place in our pasture, made friends with the rest of the girls, and hopefully will be bred back to Wilber to have her 2nd calf come spring 2027.
Ma still needs some groceries, but with plenty of grass and acess to hay 24/7, it wont be no time until she conditions nicely.
Im so glad we took the chance on this girl. Big thanks to my mentor for keeping us in mind when she couldn't take on another cow at the moment. And I am so thankful Lavern does good in a vehicle, driving to and from to pick up Maude. This new born has been through more adventures than the normal 1 month old.
