A new baby

We had a new baby calf born today-a little gray girl. This makes 3 so far this year with one to go. Her mother, Erin is black and this is her 7th calf. I just hate this March mud. The cows look so terrible.

So far I haven't seen the baby nurse. Like her brother two years ago, this one is having a problem finding mom's teats. I'm really hoping we don't have to round up Erin and help the baby nurse again. (Erin ended up with mastitis last time and wouldn't let the other calf near her udder.) With the exception of three of our cattle, none of them want to be touched by us so this is usually a problem helping them nurse.

In general we've had very few problems with our Highland cattle. They need little care and the most we do for them is provide them with hay in the winter. They have a year round spring to drink from, and with their thick wooly coats, they don't need a shelter. If the babies are born in extreme temperatures (teens or below) we bring them into the basement and dry them off.

This is Timmy, Erin's calf from 2 years ago.

He was a bottle-baby for the first few days so nowadays he's unafraid of us and doesn't mind getting petted. Sometimes he gets almost obnoxious, especially during feeding time. I would rather the cattle be a 'little' afraid of us. That way they keep out of the way and we don't have to be on the constant lookout for swinging horns when we're in the pen with them.