Many years ago when I worked on a dairy farm, calves were taken away
from their mothers at birth. The reason for this was so that the milk
produced by the cows could be sold. The calves would be fed from a
bucket with a small amount of their mother's milk for a few days then
introduced to powdered milk.
The first milk from a cow after
giving birth is called colostrum. It is a very valuable source of food
for the new born calf. It is rich in protein and antibodies which gives
the calf good protection against disease etc. The sooner it gets a good
feed of this colostrum the better chance of survival it will have.
Within two hours if possible but definitely before six or eight because
the calf's ability to absorb the nutrients from the colostrum diminishes
as time goes on.
The calf is kept, in a small area called a pen.
It`s big enough for it to turn around in and jump about a bit but not
excessively. It is quite restricted, and lies on a bed of straw.
After about five weeks of being housed in this area it is time to move
the calf on into a larger pen with much more space and in with other
calves of similar size.
When the gate is opened for the calf to
come out you would think it would literally jump at the chance to get
out of this small space. But no! It has got so used to its surroundings
that it is afraid to venture out. A helping hand is needed.
Getting in behind it and sometimes with a lot of push the calf is
finally out of its pen. The resistance it puts up can be so great that
it will stumble and fall in a heap on the floor.
It's been so
used to a bed of straw to stand on that it finds it so difficult to
stand on a hard surface. Some calves need to be pushed the whole way to
get them to the new area.
Once in this new area with all the
extra space and a lovely bed of straw, all the trauma of the flitting is
forgotten as the calf goes for a race around the pen. Kicking its heels
in the air, and sometimes diving into the straw, is a sight worth
seeing.
There are a number of points of similarity when helping
people.
Some people have been in the same restricted area for so
long that the thought of a move to a better place cannot be imagined.
The young calf in its first pen has no knowledge of a better place.
It can't conger up in its mind anything other than where it is.
Likewise a person who has become trapped in a restricted life style may
not be able to imagine anything different.
A push or a shove
might be needed. Sometimes a calf is carried the whole way to its new
area.
Teen Challenge bus work is a good example of helping people
out of one lifestyle into a much better one.
Push, shove or
carried, whatever it takes, when a person reaches the new environment of
Rehab, where new clean bedding, good food and new friends are
experienced, the joy can exceed that of the calf in its new pen.
"Come unto Me and I will give you rest," Jesus said. (Matthew 11:28)
Donnie Black
