Before And After - A Story of Gaining Weight

I recently stumbled on to one of my own blog posts from when the cows first arrived in November, 2013 and was shocked to see how emaciated they had been. That inspired me to compare six of the old photos to six recent photos, illustrating the improvement in the cows' condition.

BEFORE - All five cows were three years old and had calved once. They didn't know what grain was and it took me some time to convince them it was edible:

AFTER - Now, they are fat and sleek and know all too well what grain is, though they mostly eat grass and hay. They also had to learn what apples are, and that they are edible:

BEFORE - To be honest, I was shocked to see my own photos. These poor cows looked abused and starved when they arrived:

AFTER - Nobody could say they looked starved now. Number three is Amy. She was the smallest and most malnourished of the cows when she arrived and has grown in height, girth and head size. In fact, all five cows had their collars on the first notch when they arrived. I've been letting their collars out as they grew, and they are all now on the seventh notch:

 BEFORE - Their ribs stuck out as if they'd come from a concentration camp:

AFTER - Now, as in the case of Jasmine here, their bellies are wide and they are friendly and healthy:

BEFORE - Their backbones swayed or arched when they arrived, with their ribs showing and their hip bones protruding:

 AFTER - As you can see, they are now wide bodied like beef cattle are supposed to be:

 BEFORE - This photo shocked me when I saw it. I hadn't remembered just how emaciated they were when they arrived:

AFTER - But these cows were from good stock and with good food, worming and kind care, they have blossomed into a fine herd:

BEFORE - It took me quite some time to tempt these skinny cows into the barn and, even then, to teach them where to put their heads so they could eat grain out of their bowls:

 AFTER - They certainly know how to eat now. They were eating apples when I took this photo and their wide bellies and sleek coats glistened in the sun. My girls have come a long way in one year: