05/20/2026
Sad post alert 🚨
This has been something I’ve put off sharing for what feels like an eternity. We needed to work past our grief before I could chat with others about it. However recently I’ve been receiving messages asking when sweet Lola’s long awaited calf is gonna arrive and well…
On March 21st, after an amazing day of chick and mini cow cuddles we went to tuck animals into the barn for bed time and our sweet Lola never came in with the rest. Being she was so heavily pregnant I decided to see what the hold up was. That’s when we found her in a little creek rut, where she’s grazed peacefully for nearly 3yrs, big bloated belly and stuck as can be. It was all hands on deck to pull her free. Lola never stood up again. We tried everything for 3 days and all she could do was scoot around like a dog missing its back legs. Regardless of our efforts & so many favors called, she was unable to stand on those back legs again. Even when we stood for her.
Here’s the part of farming I HATE… We were forced to let her go, but we needed to save her (15 days over due at this point) calf. That’s when we discovered the next layer of tragedy, her calf had passed when she fell a few days earlier.
Heartbroken is an understatement.
I cannot speak higher about our local farming community. I was a blubbering idiot the whole time. We all deal with death, stress and heartbreak every day of this “job”, to some degree. They all ran to me because together we know these animals are not just $ in our pocket, SO far from that (🤣) but we work 365 days a year to keep them alive, healthy and most of all happy. We learn who each animal is and they become family. Some more than most.
For those who don’t know Lola’s story, she was our very first dairy cow, first cow actually. The girl who planted the seed of what Mini Shire Farm is today. She was an angel! Everyone loved her and she loved everyone. She was in everyone’s business and we all used her as our free therapist. The girl had huge feet and knew just how to stomp your toes to get her way 🤣 On hard days I’d go find her in the field and just lay on her. She always knew and would wrap her head around me, like she was hugging my stress away. Basically she was my emotional support cow and nothing feels the same without her.
To some she was just another cow, but to many she was a fuzzy friend whose heart was bigger than most humans. To me she was my moo baby.
Over the years Lola spent with us she gave us OVER 4,000 gallons of milk! What a rockstar she was!
I’m so sorry to let you all down. I’m sorry I couldn’t save her and most of all I wish she was still here causing trouble.
Rest easy grazing the rainbow, Ms. Looly-Moo. 🌈
