Here at God's Country Creamery one of our favorite things is watching our baby calves grow and become part of the herd.  We wanted each of you to experience a piece of the joy they bring to our days.  Here you can learn all about raising baby calves and enjoy some of our all-time favorite baby calf pictures.  The only thing better than this calf pen is for you to come visit us and meet the calves in person.

The picture to the left shows Saundra licking her new baby calf, Sugar.  When a new calf is born, the mother cow licks the baby to help dry if off and get its circulation system going.  Within a few minutes, the newborn starts to try to stand up.  As soon as possible, we feed the baby some of its mother's colostrum.  Colostrum is the first milk that a cow gives and is rich in vitamins and antibodies.  Once the calf is dry, we take her out to her own little house called a hutch.  If it is cold outside, the calf gets a little jacket to help her stay warm.

Twice a day, the calf drinks a 2-quart bottle of milk.  Some of the older calves get an extra half a bottle at each feeding.  The calf also eats grain, which is a little bit like the cereal you eat.  Both the milk and the grain provide the necessary vitamins, minerals, protein, and energy that for the calf to grow strong and healthy.  

The calf is weaned when she is three-months old.  This means she no longer gets any milk.  Now she eats hay (or grass in the summer time), grain, and water.  At this point, the calf moves out of her hutch into a new pen with other calves.  Calves will very often make lifetime friends with other calves in these pens.  Even when the calves are grown up cows, you will also find them laying in the pasture beside their pen buddy from when they were just a months old.  Lulu and Billie Jo, pictured below, were born on the same day and will be pen buddies until they enter the milking herd as two year olds.

Have fun looking through some of our favorite baby pictures...

Jingles