Saving Oliver

COLIN AND COREY

Farm life isn’t for everyone, even when you’re born into it. Colin hated getting up early to help with the cows, and regularly grumbled that it was too much for a 7-year-old to have to work and then go to school. His twin brother Corey never seemed to mind and would have to shake Colin to get him up.

All the complaining fell on deaf ears, as their father simply reminded them that it was a family business and everyone had to pitch in. On the other hand, their mom had been a teacher, and now as a stay-at-home mom, used her teaching skills to give the boys advise and support, hoping that they would discover the benefits of teamwork.

“You know boys, the work you do is incredibly important to help us run our farm. You learn how to be disciplined and organized by doing everyday chores. So far, you two only have a few responsibilities and they don’t take all that long! Colin fills the water buckets, and Corey fills the feed buckets. Work together and you’re done in no time.”

Colin was just glad that they weren’t homeschooled and that he had friends at school as well as in Little League to keep him from having to do afternoon chores. Corey chose the opposite after-school path and would hustle home to help his father. So much for twins sticking together.

Their Illinois dairy farm consisted of around fifty registered Jersey cows, four horses, two dogs and an unknown number of cats roaming around the barn. According to Dad, their pasture-grazed Jersey cows produced the best milk, nutrient-dense with a rich flavor, high in butterfat and protein. He was determined to ensure that the cows were treated to a good life, whether out grazing in the pasture, or indoors in the cozy barn during winter months. They were carefully watched over as the investment they represented, and the milk produced earned them a great living, with potential to grow the herd and expand their operation.

Springtime meant baby calves, and they had four cows ready to deliver. Colin didn’t understand how it all worked and didn’t know exactly what happened to the male calves. He just knew that they only kept the females. But that all changed the day that Colin watched Nellie deliver her baby.

It was dawn, on a Saturday in April, with Easter right around the corner. Colin was roaming around the special stalls where the pregnant cows were kept when he heard Nellie grunting. He climbed the metal rungs and looked in. Sure enough, she was lying on her side with little hooves poking out from her bottom. He ran to get his father yelling at the top of his lungs, unsure if it was because he was excited or frightened. With all the commotion, Mom and Corey joined them, as well as Gavin their farm manager, who supervised all dairy operations for them.

Dad and Gavin knew exactly what to do, and as soon as the baby calf was born, everyone cheered except Colin. It was a male calf, smaller than most and seemed lethargic. As soon as Nellie started licking him, he slowly began moving around. Colin saw no reason to be happy, as they wouldn’t get to keep him, so he turned and walked away. His father watched him intently, sensing the change in his sons’ demeanor. Following him, he found Colin seated on a large hay bale next to the feed silo.

Wiping his hands on his jeans, he sat down and nudged Colin with his elbow. “What’s up son?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Colin just looked down. “I always say I don’t like working with the cows, but I do, it’s just that I never get to keep one for myself. But I want my own calf, Dad. I know the baby boy cows only stay here for a few months and then you sell them. Somebody else gets to raise them, and then they get sent off to some other place. That really sucks, Dad.”

“Yes, it does. It’s like this. We don’t have our own steer operation here, and even if we did, the male bulls are raised to become food, so it wouldn’t be fair to get attached to them like a pet. So we sell them. Cows for milk, bulls for meat. We believe that God made these animals for this purpose. We care for them, and they feed us.”

Colin’s eyes welled up with tears. “SO we can NEVER keep a bull calf here? What if I promise to take care of him, feed him, spend time with him? I’ll quit baseball if you let me keep him, Dad. I don’t want him to get sent away. Please?”

His father put his arm around him and pulled him close. “Let’s let Nellie have the first few days, and Mom and I will talk about it, okay?”

Easter Sunday arrived a week later in a blaze of glory, sunny with bright blue skies and puffy white clouds as far as the eye could see. Farm life didn’t stop for holidays, but when all the chores were done, they cleaned up and hustled off to church, where there would be wonderful music, and after the sermon, a big Easter Egg hunt on the lawn behind the chapel.

The twins knew that Easter baskets would be waiting for them, and they could dig in after the special brunch Mom would make. All the farm hands and their families gathered round for the Easter feast, with plenty of stories and laughter to go around. After their stomachs were full, the children snuck away to the back porch and found their baskets. The room fell silent as everyone ripped into them.

Corey’s was filled with jellybeans, Peeps and chocolate bunnies, along with a video game that he really wanted. Colin only had one thing in his basket, a large chocolate cow. Confused he dug down, and there was a picture of Nellie’s calf, with writing on the back. “Colin’s calf, 5 days old.”

His reaction was instant. Joy abounding, he ran back into the house and threw himself against his fathers’ chest. “Thank you, Dad, thank you! I can’t believe it! Oh boy, I can’t wait to go see him!”

Laughing, his father reminded him that it would be another few weeks until they could move him into the calf hutch. “Your baby calf was born a bit small and weak, so we’re helping him get a good start. He’s staying with Nellie, and Gavin is feeding him extra special colostrum milk to strengthen him. You can help feed him, but he needs a bit more time before he leaves the stall.”

By this time, Corey realized what had happened. He found Colin, hugged him, and then pulled him outside, dragging him toward the barn. There was no jealousy between them, as Corey was so easy-going, and sincerely happy for his brother. “This is great Colin! You have to give him a name you know!”

As they were running, they passed by the farm equipment Dad and Gavin used to keep the pastures groomed. Colin stopped abruptly. He could see that tractor had a big green logo, ‘Oliver Farm Equipment’, and he smiled. “Corey, that’s his name, Oliver.”

There it was. Oliver, the first bull allowed to live on the farm, had a name, and was about to earn his keep.

OLIVER

Oliver’s horns appear as buds on his head around two months old. Within the week he was moved to the calf hutch, where other young female calves had already been relocated. Colin became his primary caretaker, responsible for feeding, clean up, and friendly domestication. It was understood that they would need to decide soon about whether or not Oliver would be a breeding steer, or a non-breeder. Their parents didn’t go into a lot of detail about that, but when the bull calf was four months old, there was a decision. They would not castrate him, instead they would register him to be a breeder. This did not matter to Colin; he was just happy that Oliver was spared.

Colin was so dedicated to Oliver that his parents had to confront him about his commitment to the other chores he shared with his brother. It was a wake-up call, and while he wanted to focus on Oliver, he didn’t want to let Corey down. He took it all very seriously and apologized to them. Oliver had been moved to his own special paddock and barn space, allowing for Colin to give him baths, feeds him special treats, and watch him grow. When it was time for an evening walk, Colin would head to the pasture and whistle, certain that Oliver would come running, with a nuzzle and a grunt.

The twins entered into the second grade when the new school year began. As promised, Colin didn’t return to his baseball team, and was surprised that it didn’t matter to him. He was happy to go home with his twin and see what was happening on the farm, and whether or not he understood the depth of his choice didn’t matter. He was only eight years old, and life was supposed to be simple, after all.

So it was a shock when one day, after they got off the bus and started walking down their road, that a few of Colin’s former baseball teammates followed behind, mocking and insulting them.

“Farm boys, Momma’s boys, sissies can’t play sports – maybe you’re really girls.”

The twins were unprepared for this assault and had been told never to fight, but to tell an adult if there was trouble. But there were no adults around.

Unexpectedly the gang jumped them, with Corey takes the brunt of it, getting hit in the nose, blood spurting everywhere. Colin went ballistic and started punching the main perpetrator and threatening the others, who quickly disbanded.

When they finally arrived home, their mom had a fit seeing Corey all bloodied, and when Colin told her what happened, she jumped into parent/teacher mode and called the school. Whatever she said was unknown to the twins, but she turned to them, and shared a bible lesson about forgiveness and insisted that revenge was the Lord’s, not theirs. All that mattered to her was that the bullying complaint had been filed with the school board.

Unfortunately for the bullies, they didn’t know that they had been exposed, and within days chose to take their own revenge on Colin. Stalking him to ensure he was alone, they found Colin, walking down the road leading to the farm. They were taunting him and started pushing and punching, when suddenly they heard a loud snort. Charging full steam ahead was Oliver, now nearly full grown with scary looking horns, breaking through the fence across the road. The boy holding Colin’s shirt was knocked down with such force that he flew into the field, and Colin watched the others scream and flee when Oliver turned to chase them. It was all over.

A bull calf, meant for slaughter, saved by a boy, had saved him.

FINALE

The parents of the bullies tried to accuse Colin’s father of keeping a wild bull on the property endangering their children, but it didn’t fly in the face of the complaint already issued with the school board. Nor could they explain why their tormenting children were on Colin’s family property.

Since Oliver already had his status as breeder, and had a superior pedigree, the days of artificially inseminating the farms’ dairy cows were halted. Oliver had his own big grazing pasture and never failed to greet Colin with the same enthusiasm as when he was a baby. Maybe he knew the truth about his favored situation, maybe not. Years later, when Colin and Corey took over the operation, they agreed to always keep a few male calves who would follow in Oliver’s footsteps. And at the age of 18, Oliver took his last breath, laying down in the pasture he loved. All of his offspring benefitted from his tenacity, and the Jersey herd, spawned by a weak bull calf, survived and prospered. Their small farm became known all across the Midwest for its’ steer breeding program, and the famous bull Oliver, who started it all.