Farmwife at Midlife -: Calves

April 6, 2011

Calves

Eli with Charlotte, left, and newborn Wilbur (or "Rowdy" as Henry wants to call him).

Note the size difference: Charlotte is three weeks old; Wilbur is 12 hours old.

I asked that we keep Charlotte all of her life––I've bonded as we have to bottle feed her several times a day [and it helps my case that she is a female Angus cow]. She had scours so needed to be separated from her mother. Her mother rejected her when she was returned so she is now on the bottle.

Wilber/Rowdy was born during a stormy night on Monday. Sadly, his mother did not make it after a difficult birth––hopefully Wilbur has a chance. He is the first offspring of our Hereford bull, Woodrow. We've realized the hard way that Hereford bulls and Angus heifers produce very large calves that are not easy for the mother to deliver. So Woodrow, and his brother Taurus, will be going to other pastures.

You come back when you're ready!

Catherine

2 comments:

JobertaApril 6, 2011 at 4:26 PM
Invest in an Angus bull that throws low birth-weight calves.

These babies are precious. They will be big pets very soon!
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Mud-E AliyahApril 7, 2011 at 12:29 AM
Charlotte looks just like my bottle-baby Doe-dle Doe.

They are so sweet! You're definitely going to fall in love with them.

Sorry to hear about losing W/R's mama! They'll break your heart too.
<3
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Welcome to the farm! I hope you feel free to comment and share here. I will respond as often as I can.

Welcome to our Farm !

I am now a farmwife. Make that a farmwife-in-training: not the most organized and always with much still to learn. In 2008 we moved from an historic New England family manse to a doublewide on a ridge in Kentucky. Just imagine The Beverly Hillbillies in reverse. [We even have a 'cement pond' - a large cattle tank.] Since then we've expanded the farm and are living across the road at Ida Doyle Dye's old homeplace and in her family's cabin-turned-cottage which we purchased in 2009.

I have written my blog In the Pantry since 2005 around my book, The Pantry. Farmwife at Midlife is blog about our farm life and my journey to the western Appalachian foothills at midlife–with all of those wild, and wonderful, peaks and valleys. We love our Kentucky home and feel blessed to be a part of this place– "What we need is here." [WBerry]

Farmwife Credits

• Every farmwife needs a farmer and mine had the vision of Kentucky from the start and, thankfully, brought me along for the ride. We met nearly 43 years ago in a hay field at my grandparents' New Hampshire farm and have been married for over 20–I believe we're stuck with each other.

• I am indebted to my neighbor on the next ridge, Margaret Jasper, for introducing me to this vernacular salutation from the Kentucky hills: You come back when you're ready!