Take A Walk On A Calf's Side

This calf had outgrown her stall today
She needed to move to a bigger place to play
When we passed the silo
All she did was go go go
And said, "Hey, Farmer, take a walk on a calf's side."
She said, "Hey, farmer, take a walk on a calf's side."
Doo do doo do doo do do doo...

Moving Baby Calf With Milk

When our calves get to be about two months old we move them, usually with a bucket of milk, from our calf barn where they were housed in individual stalls. They have been slowly weaned from milk for the last ten days or so. Now they will be in a large pen with six to eight calves that are approximately the same size. I have no idea what they might be singing next!

If You Give A Dairy Farmer Some Ice Cream....

If you give a dairy farmer some ice cream...

He'll probably think about milking cows.

And if he thinks about milking cows then he'll probably think about feeding cows.

If he thinks about feeding cows then he'll probably think about harvesting.

Harvesting makes him think about tractors.

When he's riding his tractor he might see his calves. 

That will remind him it is time to feed again.

Feeding baby calves will probably remind him of seeing them being born.

Thinking about cows and baby calves will remind him 

it is time run the cows up and milk again.

And of course, if a dairy farmer thinks about milking he just might think about 

milk being turned into ice cream again.

The Farmer In Concert

Pupils strained against the darkness as all eyes fixated on the door. Nervous hooves crunching straw made the only sound. Their patience was finally rewarded with the sudden opening of the door and the brilliance of the lights flashing down on them.  The calf barn erupted with moos for milk!

The Farmer smiled and gave a big thumbs up to the rows of calves. Their chanting continued as he prepared his instruments of powdered milk, water, grain, and milk buckets. The powder splashing the bottom of the bucket began his song. Warm water spraying and mixing with the milk was an opening solo for the hungry calves. He hung two buckets up for the calves in the first row and they were at once speechless and began drinking.

The Farmer worked in the rhythm of the song with the grain in his scoop rattling into each trough like maracas punctuating the beat. Verse after verse it continued until every calf had been fed. He finished to a standing ovation.

The Farmer performs twice daily and 365 days a year exclusively in the calf barn.

No Bull About Our Bull Calves

I was surfing the internet the other day and came across some comments on an article that said dairy farmers do not care for their bull calves. On our farm, and many others nearby, that is not the case.

Why do dairy farmers like bull calves? While it would be nice to have more heifer calves to grow up to be milk cows, the bulls become another source of income for our farm. We have no reason to give them less care than our heifer calves.

We raise the baby bull calves in the same calf barn as the heifers. They receive the same care and same feed. To keep them healthy we vaccinate both at the same time. The main difference in management is that we castrate the bulls usually sometime before they are a month old (and you can read more about castrating calves from Ryan Goodman).

After these steers are around three months of age or more we will sell them because we do not have the room to raise them and our heifers on our farm. We have several neighbors that like to raise weaned (from milk) calves to keep for beef for themselves or to sell later after they've grown more.

Bull calves are an important part of our farm and we want to make sure when they leave they are healthy and well.

Feed That Calf: The New Game Show

Good morning and welcome to Feed That Calf, America's new favorite game show where the contestants have to feed a new calf. I'm your host, Handsome Dairy Dave. Let's go meet our three new calves for today's show.

Are they not just adorable? These three holstein bulls are just a few days old. I have been assured by my producer that these calves have only nursed their mothers and they are guaranteed to have gotten the full amount of colostrum they needed on day one.

Our contestant for today is Farmer Bright. Tell us a little about yourself and what your game plan is this morning.

Well, I grew up on a dairy farm and have fed calves my whole life. I hope to go out there and do my best to get them off to a great start.

Farmer Bright, I've noticed your boots are a little dirty this morning.

Yes, that's because your water hose was frozen up outside the studio calf barn.

Okay, moving right along.  Farmer Bright have you chosen which calf you intend to feed for the competition this morning?

Yes, I'll feed the one on the left.

Great! Let's begin!

Farmer Bright has mixed up a bucket of warm water and milk powder. From the way he handles a bucket I can tell he wasn't lying when he mentioned he had done this before. Now he's approaching the first calf. Will he go the traditional route of "going to the calf" or will he make a power move of "hanging the bucket" and letting the calf come to him. Ladies and gentlemen, he has hung the bucket! A daring move, but it just might pay off. The calf is coming toward the bucket and is actually licking it. Farmer Bright is slowly moving in, taking the calf by the mouth and squeezing it once, twice, three times on the bucket. The calf is sucking on his own.

Farmer Bright has done it! We have a winner! Today's prize is the knowledge of knowing this calf has had a healthy breakfast! We'll see you again next time on Feed That Calf!

From Moo to You: Baby Calves

We take much care in raising our calves.  By getting the calves off to a good start we make sure that we will have a good herd of cows in the future.  The best cows always begin life as healthy calves.

When they are born we let the calf nurse the cow for a few days.  Sometimes we have to help the calf find the cow's udder to nurse.  Occasionally the calf will refuse or the cow will not stand still.  When this happens we will milk the cow and feed the calf her milk with a bucket or bottle.  It is extremely important for the calf to get the first milk the cow gives which is called colostrum.  It not only nourishes the calf, but it also provides antibodies to make their immune system strong.

The calves are then moved to the calf barn where we try to provide a healthy environment.  Each calf has a stall to themselves that we keep bedded with straw.  This will help cut down on spreading sickness.  They have access to fresh water and good, green hay.

Twice daily we feed the calves milk and an easy to digest grain mix.  The milk comes as a powder that we mix with warm water.  When the calves are at least a month old we will begin the weaning process by feeding them milk only once a day.  After doing this for about a week we will move them out to another barn where they will have a much larger pen and be in a group of around five calves.



Keeping a good eye on baby calves and making sure they eat well and don't get sick is very important.  When calves are not well taken care of early in their life they can easily fail to reach their potential.  The way we raise calves is not perfect and may not be exactly like other farms.  It does, however, work well for us. Calves are the future of every farm.