Like clockwork every morning, just after milking, the babies need to be fed.
So...I fill up my wagon with water buckets, milk buckets, and a couple of bottles and head for the hutches...
The bottle hummies are waiting for me...
I want to show you the difference in the sizes of these calves. These two were born on the same day, about ten days ago. The one closest to you was born about a month early. At first we thought she was the first of a twin, but nope...just early. (I actually picked her up and carried her out of the meadow, she's that light!) She's quite bouncy and energetic, and can finish her bottle even faster than the bigger one. The bigger one probably weighs around 100 lbs, which is much more expected of a calf this age...
These two will be moved to the individual hutches soon, where I can more easily wean them to drink out of buckets. It's much easier to do that when they're in individual pens. Can you imagine why? Think...chewing (on me), head butting (me) and stealing each others' milk!
The little one has already been named. She will be called Rosanne...or more likely Rosie, for short. Her mother's name is Bethany (my niece's name), so I left my niece choose the name for her!
The calves are enjoying the spring...and so are we! How about you?
calves are so darn CUTE! but you've definitely got your hands full! :)
ReplyDeleteI love to see you feeding the calves. You are so lucky to have the calves out in the fresh air and the grass growing. We have so much, I repeat, so much snow with all the storms we've had these past two weeks. Literally mountains of snow and no grass in sight.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
JB
The little ones can turn out to be the strongest. I'm sure they are enjoying the sunshine and warmth at last. We are into autumn here but its still warm.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the neat pictures! Brings back good memories once again!
ReplyDeleteThey are is cute!
ReplyDeleteOk, despite all the grumbling as a kid, you kind of made me miss bottle feeding calves. A little.
ReplyDeleteYoung ones looks cute. Great work done by you! This will keep you always busy!
ReplyDeleteI used to enjoy feeding calves. Looking at the pictures just makes me happy.
ReplyDeleteThe calves are beautiful and I love how green every thing is now.
Beautiful babies. Yes, the butting and the chewing and the slobbering all make calf feeding a messy and challenging chore. Still they are so fun to watch as the bounce and play.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how different in size kids of the same age can be. At least all my bottle kids are smaller to work with.
ReplyDelete