old cow

[cowman]

Since BSE hit we've only sold one cow. Anyway we have this old cow(15) who should have been gone a long time ago, that we just kept because it would probably cost more to sell her than what she would bring! And frankly it really bugs me that some slicker will turn around and make a lot of money on her!
Two days ago we had a really dirty day, heavy rain and real wild winds. This old cow had been bred real late and she had a bull calf down in the brush. Got the job done very well, got him licked off, fed and shoved under some willows.
We had sort of intended to just shoot her or something this fall but I guess she will get to winter up in the corral with the replacement heifers. Maybe by spring the old cow market will be good enough to ship her? She is still in pretty good shape, fat and probably close to 1600 lbs. She had a late calf last year and is a couple of months later this year!
Apparently a lot of people have been taking advantage of the "downer" program? My neighbor told me he got paid for 5 old cows under this program? It was supposed to be for downers but the vets are pretty loose in their definition of a downer! Now I would suggest this was not the purpose of the program, however it did get a lot of old cows out of the system?

[PureCountry]

It seems to me like their definition includes any animal which is beyond handling safely - for the welfare of them and the handlers. Our local vet did 3 cows for a neighbour, 2 were crippled up, 1 was just nuts. She got so worked up when they processed this spring, you couldn't do anything with her. She ran the horses and everything in sight. She rammed the fence until she knocked herself out for a while. The vet got there to do the other 2, and they decided to shoot her too.

Nuttier'n a squirrel terd, as they say. But a brain worth $200 cash.