Newborn Calf!

 So I'm a little late getting these pics up on the blog. These pics were taken on the day this little guy was born. He was only a few hours old when I took the picture on the left.



Later that evening, we separated him from his mother. It caused a little stress on mama cow, but not as much as I expected. I've separated kid goats from their mothers before and they cry aaallll night long. But Caramel is experienced in calving and the separation stress was minimal. We remove the calves from the cows because we want control of the milk. If little guy stayed in the field, he would nurse all of the milk and by evening, we would not get any milk for ourselves. So we become the new mommy and feed little guy a ration of his mother's milk through a bottle or bucket. We can devote time to working with him to grow him into a big, strong, healthy steer.

Another reason we separate the calves is because of the coyote problem in the area. I have lost goats the same size as this calf to coyotes. By putting him in a tight pen until he is large enough not to be threatened by predators, we ensure his safety. Soon he will be out grazing grass and growing nice and strong!