Two years ago on March 17th, I wrote about when unexpected things messed up my day. One of those "things" was a new calf that came early.
Because she was born on St. Patrick's Day, we named her Patty...
Here she is, two years later! Yes, she has horns, unfortunately. We de-horn our calves when they're young, but for some reason, she was missed. She proudly holds her head high...and doesn't let her neighbors steal her feed!
She freshened on March 9th of this year...just a week shy of her second birthday, and has turned into a beautiful first calf heifer. She's milking like crazy...
Calves are born...they grow up and join the milking herd, and we just take it for granted. Tonight, though, as I was washing her down before she was milked, I suddenly remembered that I had a picture of her from the day she was born.
I thought you might enjoy seeing how she turned out!
Love this! We have cattle, too, (though not dairy) and this was a special treat to see her newborn and now grown up.
ReplyDeleteOh I am so glad you posted a picture of her all grown up. She is just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI like her with horns. When I was a kid my milk cow named Susie had horns. She used them too, but I always liked her with them. She was a Jersey.
That is so cool. She sure has a different color. My parents cows are all angus black. I don't know how they tell them apart. I'm glad she is doing well. Thanks for looking back.
ReplyDeleteYou are just like my husband, remembering all of the little details of each calf. Nice success story.
ReplyDeleteShe really is a nice young cow. Seeing her color pattern took me back to the 50's (you have a habit of doing that, Alica!) There were not many white spotted Holsteins around then and a bull from Utah became very popular. I don't remember his name, but his code number was H-10. He was colored like Patty and his daughters really milked, but my Dad wouldn't use him because he wanted all blacker colored cattle!
ReplyDeleteNow there's a fine udder. You got a better shot than me of that little white calf. She sure turned out to be a great cow...
ReplyDeleteThe vet burns the horns on the little calves as soon as he can feel the little bud. He anaesthetize the area before dehorning. We dehorn our cattle because their heads won't fit in the headlocks when they need to be checked for heard health or for breeding or any other treatments they might need also it's safer for us and for themselves.
JB
Patty sounds like she's a wonderful addition to your farm! I love the newborn and current day photo comparison.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like she grew up to be a fine cow and I love her color! :)
ReplyDeleteShe is very pretty!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. Gotta love stories like that one. She looks like a fine milk cow. I can't wait for our heifer calf we raised to calve!!
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