06/10/2023
A couple weeks ago we had a big surprise come in the tiniest of packages. One of our roping heifers calved to our surprise, as she was supposed to be open. No calf belly, no baby bump, just normal athletic build. Two days prior to her calving we noticed she developed a small but full bag (udder). So we became very suspicious of the possible pending delivery and separated her off to keep an eye on her. Sure enough as we suspected she delivered a slightly premie bull calf. We let her try to be a mom, but the calf was TINY! Thankfully HE WAS VIGOROUS, but just to small to reach the "kitchen table". We pulled him off momma and have been bottle feeding him, and happy to report he is doing well! We didn't know for sure how it would go, but if anyone knows us, they know we will darn sure give it our all! Didn't take too long and his hair coat grew in longer and thicker, his hooves finished developing and hardening, and his eyelashes grew in. He started out eating from a lamb bottle and could put away about 1 and a half bottles a feeding safely, (much more and it would likely spilled over to the next stomach compartment and caused scours). After about a week he was ready for the larger ni**le on a calf bottle and could put away about half a bottle each feeding. He has worked his way up to a full bottle morning and night, is drinking water from a bucket, and starting to munch on prairie hay and grass. This little guy weighed like maybe 25 pounds when he was born, and he has undoubtedly stolen some hearts! We would love to share his journey with you!
P.s everything adorable deserves an impromptu photo shoot, right?! Most of the pictures are from Thursday, @ 2.5 weeks old.
