Who Says Farmers don’t care about their Animals

Even though our dairy farm size has been growing over the years, it hasn’t stopped me from getting attached to many of the cows on our farm. Many of the cows have names. They are my girls.

To farm outsiders, the cows in the herd all blend together, but to me they all stand out as individuals. I know what they look like, and who each one of them are. I know their family tree, and their relatives. I even know many of their individual personalities. I guess you could say they really are just a whole herd of pets.

The Farmer’s Favorite

My favorite cow was named Kerena. I say “was” because she passed away, but she left a legacy and lasting impact on my life. I wanted to write this post to commemorate her importance in my life. I shared so much time with her over the years, 8 years to be precise. It’s going to be very strange not seeing her in her pen. I’ve gotten so used to just seeing her around the dairy. She had such a big impact on my life. It’s like a part of my life will be missing without her.

Kerena was part of my “K” family of cows. All the members of the family tree have gotten names that start with the letter K. Why “K” you might ask, because it’s the most stylish letter in the alphabet just like my cows. (Sidenote: I started the K family before those annoying, mind-numbing Kardashians came on the scene)

Kerena’s mom’s name was Kelly. She was my previous favorite cow who I showed at the local county fair when I was younger. Kelly actually won Jr. champion at the county fair. I shared many years with Kelly before Kerena came along. Kelly was a strong, powerful cow, but had a calm gentle nature. To me, she epitomized the term dairy strength. And she really loved the attention.

Kelly (Kerena’s mom) left a legacy of excellence on our farm; many of the daughters from Kelly are some of the best cows in our herd

When Kelly passed away, I was obviously sad, but the funny thing was that Kerena looked exactly like her mom. Even though Kelly had several daughters and sons, none of them looked exactly like her, or had the same personality as her. It was really cool because Kerena had almost the exact same spots and coloring as her mom. If you know cows, that usually doesn’t happen. All cows have unique spots and spots aren’t directly translated from mother to daughter. The funny part was that Kerena even shared the same exact same personality as her mom. Kerena made Kelly’s passing less hard for me.

It really is the hard thing about farm life. You share time with these great animals, but they aren’t around forever…You can only enjoy the time you get to share with them while they’re around.

Kerena had several sons and daughters, but none of them looked like her; that is until recently. Kerena’s last daughter, KayJay, looks exactly like her. I don’t know how to explain this phenomenon, but it happened again. KayJay has helped me with the passing of her mom. I am so lucky to have a mini-Kerena.

It really is the hard thing about farm life. You share time with these great animals, but they aren’t around forever. You can’t ever fully replace their spot on the farm, but you can enjoy the time you get to share with them while they’re around. Even so, it doesn’t make losing them any easier. I will miss you Kerena.