Monday, December 18, 2017

Bottle Calves.....Update


Our journey with the bottle calves began last

March during calving season...



Here we are 9 months later.

The calves are weaned off the bottle 

and now weigh 500 lbs.



Today was their first day of freedom.

We turned them out in the field with

the rest of the herd:



I think it was harder on me than it was on them.





The orphaned calf number 25 is on the left.

The dairy calf is on the right.

They will graze on 50 acres here at home.





Here they are meeting up with 

some of the other weaned calves...

The dairy calf is on the left with the white tail,

he was afraid of the other calves.











They grazed along the river bank most of the day.








I very well expected the bottle calves to join up

with the rest of the calf herd and well, 

behave like cattle...


By 4pm they were back to the barn bawling 

to come back in!

Yes, of course, I let them in 

and fed them grain and hay.


I guess freedom wasn't all 

they thought it would be!


It has been a week now,

they come back to the barn each night.

Maybe one night they will stay out with the herd

and they won't come back to the barn?


Being a cow mama isn't always easy for me.




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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi


4 comments:

  1. But you are such a good 'cow mama'! Poor little things...so hard for them to get used to not being around ma!!!!

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  2. Awww, it is so hard to let our babies go off on their own!! Just like our children, they come back to the safety of home and what they know. I'm sure it is hard to push them out of the nest (or barn). Thanks for sharing their journey...it has been fun!

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  3. That is so cute. They know where to go at night. Back to momma! I know times like that make all the hard work worth it.

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