Over the weekend we had a very tiny baby calf born. It smaller in size than our border collie was but with longer legs. It probably doesn’t weigh more than 30 lbs. The calf is struggling to live and Gene is having to bottle feed it. It does not want to suck the bottle and he is having to work to get milk into the calf. The calf can’t seem to get up on its own but when Gene helps it up it can stand on its feet. Gene took a calf hutch out to the field as protection for the calf. Fortunately it is not nasty weather.
The calf looks bigger in this picture than what it actually is.
A calf like this is difficult to save but you have to try. It did not get its mom’s colostrum so he is feeding a substitute colostrum milk replacer. It will only drink about a cup of milk. A normal calf will drink a quart. This first week is very crucial to its survival.
This afternoon the mama was out grazing in the pasture when we went to feed the calf. Gene had the calf fed before she spied us messing with her precious baby and across the field she came in a brisk run. The mama is very concerned about her baby and keeps a close eye on it even when she is across the pasture grazing.
Gene is moving a safe distance away as she comes to her baby.
First she checks on her calf.
Then she looks to see where Gene is at.
After she settled down, Gene eased back over and tilted the hutch up so that she could nuzzle her baby.
Then she spied me standing off to the side taking pictures and that did not make her happy. It wasn’t long till I decided I needed to made a dash back to the gate with her trotting hot on my heels! I love gates! See the hutch all the way in the back behind the barn. That is where I came from!!!!
Yesterday Gene had to park the pickup in front of the hutch door to protect himself from her while he fed the calf. These mamas are very protective of their babies and you don’t want to get caught in between them.