Sunday, June 5, 2016

A tale of brother and sister.



They were born a day apart


The little bull calf is hiding in the tall grass and my little heifer is coming for her bottle. 






April is the perfect mother.  She makes sure that her little bull calf wakes up every few hours to take on nourishment.  






My little calf wasn't so lucky.  She was born to a new mother.  No amount of coaxing convinced the mother to accept her newly born calf.  






We tied her up so that the little calf could get the all important colostrum (the first milk which contains antibodies to protect the newborn). 






She left her calf.
But first she kicked her newly born and threw the other calf into the air.  








She never looked back.
She is the one with the horns.  






April came to check on the orphan.






Soon her own calf came looking for her.  






 My little charge gets 2 pints of  formula 4 times a day.  She is happy and thriving.

Happy Sunday to you and yours. 

Gina 



9 comments:

  1. Dear Gina - the little heifer is so cute and lovely, but there is a sadness in her eyes as if she knows that she was rejected - thank goodness she has you to be her nurse maid and get her through the next few crucial weeks.

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    1. Dear Rosemary, Good news. In the last couple of days the two young ones have become friends. They are taking advantage of our sunny weather by playing with each other under the watchful eye of April.

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  2. Dear Gina,
    I wonder how long you will have to feed this cute calf before it can eat grass in the field. How nice of you to help the little one and make this lovely story with your great pictures out of it. I see the sun shines brightly on the land around you.
    Happy Sunday, Sieglinde

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    1. Dear Sieglinde, The little calf will be on formula for about 10 more weeks. She is doing well and getting fat. The secret is to feed her small amounts but feeding her often. I only feed her on Fridays and Saturdays when her owner is doing church work.

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  3. Thank you for bringing this tale of young life to us, Gina. April does seem a very sweet cow.

    For the past month, I've been following the goings on at two UK peregrine falcon nests, one in Bath and one in Norwich, via life web cams. The Norwich mother falcon was chased away from her four chicks by a female intruder falcon (who'd been hatched several years ago in Bath.) The father of the quads has taken over all the feeding and so far has ignored the intruder who still perches near the nesting box on the Norwich cathedral spire. It's almost fledgling time, and the Bath chicks (who are a week older than those from Norwich) have already tried some short flights. Lots of drama, and lots of opportunities to learn a lot.
    hawkandowl.org/norwich is the link if you wish to become addicted like myself, in between your own sweet feeding of the calf xo.

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    1. Dear Frances, Aren't animals wonderful to watch. Lots of drama as you have noticed. Your Peregrine Falcon story is fascinating. No wonder you have become addicted to watching their progress. I am pleased that your story has a happy ending.
      Thank you for sharing the hawk and owl link.

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  4. Adorable post. Pretty little story. Cows are always wonderful to watch. They are gentle animals. This post makes me happy. Love Sujatha:)

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    1. Hello Crystal, I am so pleased that you liked this little story. This breed of cattle is a very gentle miniature Hereford. The have the body of a standard breed cow but their legs are very short. And they are so friendly. Thank you for stopping by.

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