Bottle-fed Calves

We keep an extra close eye on our groups of mother cows that are calving to make sure they aren't having any issues. In a perfect world, each mother can safely birth a calf on her own and then continue to raise the calf without us having to intervene. However, (just like humans), there are occasionally issues that require us to step in and make sure the calf is born safely or step in to help raise the calf if it doesn't appear the mother is taking care of it like she should.

This week, we identified this calf as being dehydrated and didn't appear to be taken care of by his mother. It got the VIP treatment riding in the back of our suburban back to our house where we will set up a pen for him right outside our house so that we can bottle feed him until he's ready to return to the bigger group. We don't like to bottle feed them if we don't have to (it's a lot of extra work) but obviously the health of all our calves is most important. This is thankfully the first calf of the year that we have had to bottle-feed. Our herd dog Ace gave some kisses on the ride home so they appear to be fast friends!

These calves also become so friendly around humans that they essentially become like pet dogs for the rest of their lives - always at the front of the herd and even occasionally wanting to "play". Playing with them as 200 lb calves isn't too bad but have to be a little careful when they become 1,000 lbs :)