I knew before I clicked on this post what the addition had to be. I'm not sorry we're out of the cow business. She'll make a fantastic pet.

Nell

Only she is a he. I am considering giving it to the neighbor.

If we got out of the cow business, I don't know what my husband would do with himself!

Been there, done that. Also, had baby goats and lambs on a bottle. That is a lot of work.

My DH works on his motorcycles in lieu of cows. He is very happy, not so crazy about cows now.

Janie

Once upon a time, my sister had a goat dairy. Small, so they could only sell milk for cheese, not fresh. Ta-da! The goats accepted calves. Sis built ramps so the Mommy goats were at the right height.

You're a kind soul for taking that little guy in. Lucky little fella.

Glenda, my friend has a nurse cow, a Brown Swiss. I have never known a cow to have so much milk! She can raise 3 calves at the same time, easily!

Janie

Having raised a calf on a bottle (fitted a bucket with appropriate device actually), I know it can take over your life for awhile. Also, had a horse born by cesarean and the mare couldn't nurse. I had to raise the filly on goat's milk and she was even more trouble than the calf.

Good luck with the little guy -- what did you name him? :-) Ferdinand? Wasn't he the bull who liked flowers?

Cameron

Never experienced anything like that but when I was a teenager I went to spend weekends with a girlfriend, her parents had a dairy farm. I forget what breed the cows they had but they had one Jersey which I thought was beautiful.

I was such a greenhorn, I didn't realize you had to get up in the wee hours to get ready for milking and other barn chores, in those days the milking was all done by hand. My girlfriend had to milk 3 cows every morning before breakfast.
Her dad pulled a dirty trick on me as I was sitting watching my girlfriend milk he came up from behind and yanked my pony tail, I thought a cow had hold of it and let out a shriek. Everyone fell over laughing at the look on my face. Needless to say this city gal loved those weekends out on the farm, great memories for me and I also gained a new respect for farmers.

Annette

Annette, when I was in the fourth grade I had to milk a few cows before school (don't remember how many) but not over 2 or three. I hated it.

This little guy is doing great so far. He had some kind of infection in his eyes, like a cold, and they were weepy, but I treated them and they seem dry now. I took a picture of him, but should have washed his face first! He comes right to the gate so I don't have to even go into the pen to feed him.

Ferdinand is a great name for him. We are pathetic naming our animals and terribly unoriginal. Ferdinand it is!

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AWWWW!

Better you than me. I wouldn't have a clue how to take care of "Ferdy".

I used to have a friend in El Paso, tx A calf fell off a truck on the freeway. She stopped and put it in the back of her Cadillac.
Short story, after going to traffic court to save the precious animal, she got to keep it.

I asked her what did she do with it as she lived in town. She said, "put it in my freezer".
I love a good steak, but I could not eat something I had looked in the eye.

k

Kathy, you get over that pretty quickly living on a farm or anyway it doesn't bother me! When our son first married he cautioned us not to talk about various calves that we were butchering because his wife wouldn't be able to stand eating it. Doesn't bother her now, but then she never looks one in the eye!

Aw how cute! Ferdy isn't going to be dinner is he???!

I will never tell!

"He comes right to the gate so I don't have to even go into the pen to feed him."

Before long, he will knock you down to get to the dinner! That's the way those lambs and goats were; they would run right over me!

We used to raise pigs for the freezer. We started them little and raised them to be nice, but not too big, and not too old.....a SIL couldn't believe that I could eat one of our pigs. I told her that I didn't even recognize them when they came back from the butcher, all wrapped those neat packages. They didn't even look like the same pigs.

Janie

LOL! Janie, I guess you are right.

Janie, I am working on my husband to get a couple of pigs....he is hold out so far.

He's so cute! Glad I could help with the naming! :-) It was a Disney kid's short about Ferdinand the bull who wouldn't fight and preferred to spend his time among flowers. That's was back in the 1950's, so you young ones won't remember it! :-) So, I found it online and here's the link for you.
Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: Ferdinand the Bull

How is the little bull calf doing? Has he started to eat your flowers yet?

We would let a friend keep a pig in with ours, and we split the feeding chores. He owned and ran a little bar and grill contributed a lot in the way of 'roughage' for the little piggies. We bought the regular feed.

One afternoon, my DH and I wandered back to the pigpen to check them out. They were all staggering around, I was horrified! I was going to the house to call the vet, because I just knew my pigs had a horrible disease; Mad Pig, maybe?

DH wouldn't let me call. Come to find out, the owner of the little bar and grill would empty every bottle of beer into a bucket, and give it to the pigs. Everyday!

They were all drunk, but it didn't seem to hurt the pork chops.

Janie

Janie, the bull is doing great. My cow still hasn't calved yet, but she is getting close. I will still try that when she is in milk.

I have heard of feeding pigs beer before, but never new anyone who did it. Bet they loved dinnertime!

Ahhhh, he is darling and that ain't no bull!
You gonna name him "Angus"?

I helped bottle feed calves and lambs when I was a little girl. They would suck so hard that they would pull me over. I would laugh and they would stop nursing and stare at me, then start in again, pulling hard on the bottle and sucking so hard they would sometimes yank the bottle right out of my hands.
Be careful you don't get knocked down.
Bless you for taking care of the little fellow.

Hugs,
~Annie