05/15/09, 10:28 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: the flat land of Illinois
Posts: 4,652
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first calf lament/laugh
our first calf is a learning curve in progress, no doubt about it. Mostly he makes me laugh once I'm done using other language. And he's just so incredibly pretty!
* exactly why does the calf only pull the nipple out of the bottle and douse me & him in milk when there is a strong cold wind a-blowin? Why?
* feeding a calf with a bottle is not fun! I'm ready to be done with getting head butts in the crotch and bum.
* how do you check a calf's backend for scours when the little bugger is intent on never letting you out of his sight just in case you might have another bottle for him?
* I decided to just grab him and flip his back end into the air, balancing him on his front two feet. Brilliant idea. Just barely missed several good bucking kicks
* decided if the little bugger had so much fight in him then scours were unlikely. Still never have seen his backend to check for scours.
* I stopped wondering why the calf wanted to repeatedly lick the pen post (creosote-soaked rail) and covered the post with a clean rabbit cage pull-out bottom. Just didn't make sense to feed organic goat milk & organic hay and grain and then watch the calf lick known carcinogens. So what does the calf do once his favorite licking place is unobtainable? Why, play the drum! After each bottle feeding the calf has a set play routine: buck and twist and play for a few minutes, then spend 5 minutes playing the drum - aka - head butting the rabbit pen bottom to make loud drum like 'bangs'. Funny guy.
all-in-all, a calf is such a quirky thing! never dreamed that a calf would be so simple, so physical, so darn beautiful. what a fun experience!
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