Life of a Ranchhand

While feeding hay to our old cows on Saturday, I saw a new calf. Its mother was licking it clean. It had not even stood up yet. When it finally stood up, it was snow white with a few black speckles - a very pretty little calf. On Monday the momma cow started having some problems. After two visits by the Vet to try and revive her, the Momma died. Now I have a bottle baby which means going out early in the morning to give the calf a bottle and again in the afternoon.

The calf turned out to be a heifer. She is quite large actually and very pushy. From the beginning she has not had any problem with taking a bottle. In fact, she sucks her bottle down and then pushes me around wanting more. While this is amusing now, when she gets bigger, it could be trouble. In the meantime, I just enjoy the mornings with the sun just coming up, springtime in the air, milk slobber dripping down my jeans, and being butted by a greedy little heifer. It is difficult not to get attached to a bottle baby. I have to keep in mind that no matter how cute she is right now, someday she will be a huge cow, and someday dinner on someone's table. Such is life on a farm.