Saturday, April 27, 2013

First heifer calf!

Our first heifer calf of the year was born today!

And she's apparently spirited, too!  Kris and I were in our yard playing baseball with the boys - it was a beautiful, warm day - when a woman stopped.  She told us she saw a calf in the field across from the cows.  Usually they stay closer to their mothers, so this was unusual.

The five of us piled into Kris' truck to go get the calf.  Right away our milker and neighbor Dave called and said he could see the calf from his house.  He and his sons picked her up and met us at the barn.


Dave said, "This isn't going on the internet, is it?" I assured him it was.

We fixed her up a bed of fresh straw and told her hello.


Headed in for a nap


Max said, "Hi cow!" in the same voice he uses to talk to babies.

The welcoming committee

She'd had a long walk.  She mooed very loudly, probably because she was hungry.  Kris found her mother, took her into the parlor to be milked, and fed her a bottle of her mother's colostrum.

Welcome to our farm!  Hopefully this year's calves are just as healthy ... and stay a little closer to home. 

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