New calf

No, not born on the farm or bought from another farm. This new little girl, the one with white markings on her side, belongs to some friends at church. They moved into a home in a nearby town and couldn't keep her in their yard. All five calves are happy and healthy. 

The boys halter and tie them up on the hay feeder each morning and evening to feed them a special calf powered milk.

After the calves are fed, we bring Darlin into the dairy shed from the pasture and get her milked. Then return her to the pasture before releasing the calves.

We plan to stop bottle feeding them by the end of May, and put them on grain for a short while as they transition to an all grass diet. It will take over a year to get the 3 girls old enough for breeding with Red, and almost two years to fatten up the 2 bull calves for market. Long term investments!