MIL and FIL were farmers at one point in their lives. They had plenty of cows, a huge shed, and a big field. MIL told me the other day when she visited me that they named the cows and it got harder and harder to do it.
There was this small cow named Annukka who always kept to herself in the field. She'd munch grass in peace at the corner of the field and when it was time for all the cows to go back inside the shed, she wouldn't even hear a thing. She was so focused on munching and munching and munching and MIL would let her be until the other cows got back inside.
Then she'd go outside and call out, "Annukka...come inside!"
The cow would turn around towards MIL and then she'd look around and upon realizing that the others had gone inside, she'd run as fast as she could into the shed. :-D
MIL also said that when this small cow had a calf, even though she was small in size, she produced so much milk. And she said that normally cows had their young for the first time when they reached 2 years of age. And she always remembered the happy look on her face after she became a mother. She was a good mother, MIL stated. :-D
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One cow managed to produce 12 calves in her lifetime. That meant she lived until she was 14-15 years of age. However, MIL said that these days there's a rather strict law that states that if cows don't produce enough milk after they have their calves for the first time, then they'd be sent right away to the butcher. MIL says that this is a rather bad strategy because some cows only produce the best quality of milk after giving birth three times.
MIL also told me about this one cow named Onneli who (after giving birth) would always moo so loudly when MIL came inside the shed, as if she'd say, "ME FIRST! ME FIRST!!!!". She'd want MIL to milk her first and only after that she'd be willing to start eating he he he he he he...There was also another cow who'd want to eat from her hand while she was being milked.
MIL said that life in the farm was really something else (I bet!!!). Her cows had plenty of calves during the years, but due to the limitations of space, she had to sell those calves. She said if it was up to her, she would want to keep all the calves, too. :-D
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Next time I'll ask her to tell me more about these types of memories. I just LOVE hearing her stories! :-D :-D :-D
