LITTLE BUTTONS
Some of you may remember me mentioning that I live about a mile from a cattle ranch called The Armstrong. Janet the wife of the head cowboy there and I have become fast friends through our love of fiber and animals. Janet is the calf whisperer on the ranch as she cares for any orphaned, abandoned or sick calves. This is a free range operation so the heifers calve over a lot of acreage and even though the cowboys keep a close eye on the "heavies" heavies being a heifer or cow who is getting close to calving. As I was saying with lots of land to cover and the usual hazards of life there are a number of calves in her care each year.
Little Buttons was about 2-3 weeks early and Janet's cowboy husband found her abandoned at about 12 hours old. Every attempt is made to locate the mama and reunite her with her calf but with a total of 800+ heifers on this ranch sometimes that doesn't work out. The important thing at that age and her premature nature is to get the calf down to Janet for colostrum and heat. When ever I have extra milk from my goats I take it over to Janet to feed to any calves she has in her care. It is a nice place for my extra to go and does something helpful.
Buttons warming shirt decorated in stylish blue painters tape say proudly "FARM GIRLS HAVE NICE CALVES" how cute is *that*!
Little Buttons was about 2-3 weeks early and Janet's cowboy husband found her abandoned at about 12 hours old. Every attempt is made to locate the mama and reunite her with her calf but with a total of 800+ heifers on this ranch sometimes that doesn't work out. The important thing at that age and her premature nature is to get the calf down to Janet for colostrum and heat. When ever I have extra milk from my goats I take it over to Janet to feed to any calves she has in her care. It is a nice place for my extra to go and does something helpful.
posted by Goatldi @ 1:49 PM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
I know raising orphaned calves is often a hard and time-consuming job , and sometimes heartbreaking. Love seeing the little calf all bundled up and warm.
You're blessed to have a like-minded fiber friend so close too.
Wise and kind words Kathy. I have learned a lot from Janet also. My only experience with cattle close up and personal has been with the drop calves from dairy cattle. Dairy cattle are down right domesticated when put up next to Angus and Angus cross. It has been fun to learn from someone who knows how to do it right!
So cute! I understand that calves do very well on goat milk, and it's great for you to have something really helpful to do with your extra.
So good to have a wonderful (fiber) friend close by! Have never bottle fed a little calf but it's gotta be more challenging than a goat kid. They get big and rambunctious a LOT faster, I would guess!
Nice to meet you, and thanks for stopping by my blog. We have cattle on our ranch too, so this bum calf is something I'm accustomed to. Buttons is lucky to have that good milk you're providing.
Thanks for the visit. I have raised quite a few of the drop bull calves on my extra goat milk but they were all dairy breeds. These free range Angus sure was an education.Little Buttons of course thinks whoever is holding the bottle is her BFF. Thanks for the kind words.
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