Rescue & Adoptions

Healthcare with Heart Stories

Herd Healthcare at our California Shelter

Each cow and steer living at our California Shelter is a unique individual. Rescued from cruelty and neglect, each has his or her own story to tell. The 41 members of our herd range in age from just over two years old to more than twelve years old. They come from auction yards, dairy farms, and trucks bound for slaughter. Once considered incapable of feeling emotion or pain, some were beaten, some starved, and others dumped and left for dead. Each faced a very bleak, unhappy future, indeed, until Farm Sanctuary came to the rescue.

Now enjoying all the peace, comfort, and happiness our California Shelter has to offer, each of our cattle friends has been given the chance to start a new chapter in their lives. Here they receive nourishing food for their bodies, plenty of exercise, and warm affection from their caregivers. As Farm Sanctuary residents, they also receive quality healthcare on a regular basis, which enables them to live long, healthy, and happy lives.

To insure the well being of our cattle, each member of the herd is given a complete health check-up once every six weeks. During these health checks, all of the cattle are examined for signs of cuts, swelling, or abnormal lumps. Caregivers check their legs and joints for swelling or inflammation and observe them while walking to determine if they are limping. They also carefully examine each animal's eyes for injuries or for any indication of cancer, such as inflammation, bumps, asymmetry, and light pigment. After all of these examinations are completed, caregivers delicately clean out each cow or steer's ears with mineral oil and water and apply a topical oil to their backs to deter flies. In addition, once a year they are vaccinated and have their hooves trimmed.

Although these cattle health checks take only a few hours to complete, they serve as an effective early warning system for our caregivers and are crucial to the health of our herd. If any cow or steer appears to be ill or shows signs of an injury or more serious ailment during health checks, he or she is separated from the herd for a short time and housed in a private pen until a veterinarian can come out to the farm. Thankfully, though, serious illnesses and injuries are rare. Here at Farm Sanctuary, clean barns, rolling pastures, nutritious food, and plentiful sunshine come with the territory -and as you'll see if you visit, happy cows do too.