Encourage ALL God's Creatures, Human or Not!
December 25, 2022. Christmas Day. Our family had spent the day together opening gifts, enjoying Christmas yummies, playing games, and napping. But chores don’t stop, even for Christmas, so Farmer Ryan and Connor braved the cold and headed out to make sure all of our livestock was fed, watered, and accounted for. About an hour and a half went by, and the sun had completely set when the back door burst open.
“Katrina! Destiny!”
Farmer Ryan was standing in the doorway. We asked, “What? What happened? Are the cows out?!”
Ryan laughed. “No, but we found a new calf in the pasture! One of the heifers gave birth just this afternoon!”
As it would turn out, a heifer (which is a young female that has never given birth) bought from one of our partner farmers had indeed given birth to a newborn calf that neither we nor they were expecting! Being a first-time mama, she was unsure of how to take care of the calf. Even though a cow’s instincts typically take over in events like these, that isn’t always the case, so Ryan brought the calf in from the 5° weather and set him up nice and warm in our heated workshop.
Laying on a bed of straw, the calf was so weak he could barely lift his head. We rubbed him all over with towels, scrubbing off dirt and afterbirth and stimulating blood flow throughout his spindly limbs. He was so cold! Katrina warmed up some raw milk and we managed to get some in his belly. Then we let him rest.
“Do you think he’ll make it, Dad?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” he replied. “We’ve done everything we can, so we’ll just wait and see.”
What we did for the calf must have worked. Within two hours, his little head perked up, taking in his surroundings. As I fed him more warm milk, he kicked his legs, trying to stand. By the next morning, he was shakily walking around and already getting into stuff which my brother Connor grumbled about. The calf stood about 24 inches tall at the shoulder, with his head bobbing above that. We christened him Buffalo, but soon lapsed into fondly calling him “Moo Moo.”
Newborn calves desperately need their mother’s milk, especially right after birth when colostrum is available to nurse. Colostrum is rich in nutrients and protective elements for their untested immune systems. Since we didn’t have access to that from the mother or in our frozen inventory at the time, we substituted other supplements and used our raw milk from Forest Grove. We went through a lot of milk that week until the local feed store opened and we bought calf milk replacer. Moo Moo grew stronger and bigger every day! Within a week he moved out to the barn in his very own stall, and I fed him each morning and evening, steadily increasing the amount of milk so he would get all he wanted. Calves have an instinct to headbutt their mom’s udders when they’re nursing to stimulate the milk flow, so Moo Moo likes to headbutt the bottle which will literally knock me off balance if I’m not braced for it!
The week he was born, I started taking Moo Moo outside for playtime. The first time, he stood still for a minute, blinking in the sunshine. Then he sprinted around the yard in a big circle, but he would always come back to me and stare at me, as if asking me to play with him - and who could resist an invitation like that! Our Goshen farm pickup is every Saturday morning, and one Saturday Moo Moo was out running around. A customer drove in to pick up his order and mentioned the large black dog in the yard. He was surprised to learn the dog was in fact a calf!
We have recently started the weaning process, and Moo Moo has not been super excited about replacing his warm milk with cold water and other food, but he’s getting used to it. When the warm weather comes and he is completely weaned, he will get to join our Dexter cow Nellie and her small herd in the big pasture, along with our two goats Hannah and Billy. Moo Moo is much bigger now, sassy, silly, and completely healthy! Due to the kind of milk replacer that was available to us, Moo Moo doesn’t meet our requirements for Vintage Meadows meat, so you don’t need to worry about eating Moo Moo steak. He is looking forward to a happy life on the farm!
This experience with Moo Moo can remind us that there is life all around us, in the city, on the farm, in the park…How we interact with that life affects us all! Respecting and honoring each life that we have the opportunity to interact with brings joy and fulfillment. Those plants, animals, and humans don’t always reciprocate in ways that feel positive but accepting their choices and actions for what they are gives us the freedom to be who we are! We each have daily opportunities to support and encourage those lives around us. Who knows, the life we save just may be our own!