My Life on the Farm: So Long, Peggy

For months we have been waiting for Peggy to show signs that she is about to give birth but the only thing she did was get fat. For awhile we thought maybe she was pregnant because she was so huge, but it turns out she just had a food baby, not a calf-baby. Art and I were were unsure of her pregnancy status until Ferdi started humping her, a sure sign that she was in heat. Instead of bringing another bull over and feeding her for another nine months on the chance she might contribute to Art's dream of having his own cattle heard, we decided to ship her off to the stockyards. I am sure many of you are asking, "isn't there a way of checking to see if she's pregnant?", and yes there is. It's quite simple- you call the vet, he comes over with a long, shoulder length glove, and performs a gynecological exam. Takes five minutes and it's fool-proof. But this involves paying for a service when waiting nine months is free of charge (although if you consider the amount of food she ate, it might have been cheaper to call the vet).

A guy came and picked her up this morning to take her to the auction; after he judged her as being 'old' (if you consider a two-year-old cow who has never calved 'old'- which I don't and neither does Art) he decided to put her in a different category; instead of putting her with the 'feeder' cows at $1.31 per pound, he will put her with the older cows where we might get $.66 per pound. I wanted to tell the guy that he was just the transportation, not the buyer and to mind his own business. After all, I certainly didn't comment on how old he was (and he is old. And moves quite slowly).

Ray was a wreck as they were trying to load Peggy onto the truck. When we brought Ray home, blind and ball-less, Peggy was the one to show him the ropes and the two have been inseparable ever since. But Art put Ferdi in with Ray in the hopes that he will be a nice companion for him.

Here are a few pictures to better remember Peg Leg Peggy: