Thoughts

The day of All Saints and All Souls is, on the one hand, a welcome holiday, but for many it is also associated with intense thoughts of the deceased. Sadness often spreads, and with melancholy, one thinks of shared experiences and misses these people all the more. For years, I felt that I was simply glad when this day passed and could be crossed off the calendar.

Our animals always manage to brighten up precisely these “difficult” days, and so today, as everyone gathered at the cemetery, our cow Bella decided to give birth to a beautiful calf.

My husband was present at the birth, and the joy was particularly great because – it was female – and our daughter immediately named her “Bleami” (flower). Such events brighten these gloomy days and show that life also brings beautiful things daily, and everyone desperately needs them to live.

Bella has given birth to her second calf, and she is a very caring mom. We usually leave the calves with their mother for 1-2 days in the birthing box, if the mother allows them to drink, and only then move them to the milking parlor or the calf stall. After birth, the cow immediately receives plenty of warm water mixed with cola; it contains a lot of sugar and helps the cow get back on her feet faster. We give her as much water as she wants, always lukewarm, never cold. She also immediately receives Arnica globules, as does the calf. The calf is initially fed exclusively with the mother’s colostrum (first milk), two liters twice a day. Colostrum is thick and yellowish. We always save and freeze the milk from the first milking of the oldest cows. If a cow has no milk at birth or is sick, we can always fall back on the valuable colostrum from our own barn.

It is also very healthy to drink colostrum yourself for strengthening. I freeze it in ice cube trays and mix a small cube into my yogurt every morning. This strengthens you in a completely organic way. For top athletes, colostrum is produced in tablet form, a trainee from Vorarlberg told me.

Thus, a contemplative, thoughtful day ends with a joyful event. See you soon for the next farm story. Katharina Schwaiger, farmer from Zittrauerhof.