1.30.2009

Adding to the Zoo!

Earlier this week, we took a drive, horse trailer in tow, to a local dairy to pick up a few new friends! Here they are waiting to be taken out of the trailer when we got home:


Lauren welcoming Amos into his new pen....She isn't quite as brave as Emma, but she was willing to pet his head before fleeing! :-) Amos was a bit less steady on his feet and the first night we fed them, he kept falling over and Jake would have to pick him back up (for some reason, he wasn't quite as amused as I was by the whole scene - which lasted about 45 minutes).....

Here is Emma and Nehemiah. (Like the names? We're doing OT for Bible right now....Jake calls them "Esther and Lamentations"....he's a real comedian) Nehemiah was much more coordinated than Amos (Amos has since caught up) and spent much of the first evening running and jumping around the pen. There isn't much cuter than watching a day old calf run and jump!
This is the first time we've had bull calves and they are much different than our heifers! The last 2 heifers we had were orphans from the sale yard and I don't know if it is the difference between beef vs milk or heifer vs bull, but these 2 are much more aggressive! They're 5 days old and I'm already feeding them through the fence because they have taken to butting their heads into me and running over the top of me while I try to feed them (This scene Jake finds much more amusing!). I was still teaching the heifers how to eat while I held them on my lap at this stage. That's ok....it's still fun to hear them bawling for milk when I walk outside and feeling their little sand paper tongues while they search for the bottle in my hand.
P.S. Did you know you can buy powdered bovine colostrum in a bag?
P.P.S. Did you know that when you call a feed store and ask for bovine colostrum you should ask to speak to someone other than the 17 year old boy that answers? I really should not have had to have that conversation!

5 comments:

Kala said...

You are too funny! We may have to invite ourselves over to your place sometime soon... :)

Pajama Dren said...

I'm impressed that you know what "colostrum" is. And I'm impressed that you aren't calling them "baby cows." ;)

Cheri said...

Oh, I still call them baby cows.....but only when your dad and Jake are around. They LOVE it! :-)

Sunny said...

Oh wow, you ARE adding to the zoo! How long do you have to feed them by bottle?

And yeah, I would not want to have to explain colostrum to a teenage boy. Yuck.

Kourtni said...

Oh funny!! Yes, I have heard of powdered colostrum... but not sure WHY now that I'm thinking about it. You guys have quite the farm! My kids would love it.

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