Helen Keller

When I first came to the ranch, I thought that I already knew everything there was to know since I grew up farming with my dad and grandparents.  Boy, was I in for a rude awakening.  First of all, little did I know that there is a right way and a wrong way to lock a gate.  I quickly learned the right way after locking it the wrong way several times.  My thought was who the heck cares as long as it is locked.  Well, my husband cares, and he patiently showed me over and over again how to lock the gates.

That first year, I had a few bumps and bruises along the way.  One lesson that I learned is to not get in the way of a mad mamma cow who just happened to be trying to have her baby.  Yea, long story, but we were trying to get her penned up so that the vet could come and pull the baby.  We had her cornered and I jumped out of the truck and was doing like we always did with my Grandpa’s cows and that was to say “hep, hep, here cow.”  I was simply trying to get her to go into the barn, but she had other ideas.  She stopped, put her head down, snorted, and came at me full charge.  I was so shocked that I had no time to react and jump out of the way, so she plowed into me and upended me.  It knocked the air out of me thankfully with no other major injuries other than my pride hurting.

One day while taking out hay, I noticed this calf going around in circles.  I asked my husband why that calf was by herself going around and around in a circle.  He said well that is Helen Keller.  I said what do you mean Helen Keller.  He laughed and said that is Helen, she is blind.  Me being me, I said oh poor baby that is awful.  He said she does just fine.

We moved Helen from the big pasture to our lot behind our house with the fat steers.   Helen manages well if there are other cows, or in this instance steers, around her.  She also does well finding the hay, grain, and water.  I noticed a couple of months ago that Helen seemed to be getting fat.  I told my husband that I thought Helen had somehow managed to get pregnant.  He, of course, told me no way and I said, umm yes way, she is pregnant.  A couple of weeks ago he said I think Helen is bagging up.  Being the woman that I am, I said I told so, I told you she was pregnant.

We did have a bull calf in the fat lot for a while and I assume that he did his job, however, I do not know how with Helen going around in circles all of the time.  Seriously, I simply cannot picture how this happened, but it did.  She had the baby on a night when it was freezing rain a few weeks ago.  Her instincts to protect her little one are spot on.  If that baby goes to bawling, she is trying to find her.  We had to feed the little one for a few days, but eventually she caught on as to what she was supposed to do and Helen has let her nurse.

Now, I suppose we will have to keep Helen for a while longer.  Below is a picture of the “Little One” that Helen had.

She is growing and doing well.