I shared with you in a previous post that we are currently bottle feeding a calf.  One of our cows had twin bull calves and rejected one of them.  Since none of the other cows adopted the calf we’ve made him a little home in the bank barn and we bottle feed him twice a day.

If you are a parent you are well aware that feeding time is like clockwork and that is also true with most animals.  If the herd or our feeder calves (calves that have been weened from the cow and separate from the herd) need fed they can usually be fed a couple of hours early or late depending on our family schedule, but when you are caring for a baby calf it is twice a day and feeding needs to be as consistent as possible.

We are currently feeding the calf around 6 am in the morning and 6 pm at night.  The other day My Farmer called me because he was an hour out from returning home from his day job so he asked if I wouldn’t mind feeding the calf.  My main job here on the farm is bookkeeping for both of our businesses and my Mom/Wife duties so I’m not usually doing farm chores, but I’m always willing to help out when needed.  I have fed the feeder calves, the bull, helped bale hay, and yes even bottle fed a previous calf.  So with that I was ready to mix up the bottle, hop on the quad, and head over to the barn to bottle feed the calf.

After preparing the bottle I posted on FB under my City Chic on a Farm fan page that I was heading to the farm to feed the big baby.  Seconds later a dear friend texted me asking if I needed help feeding.  I replied that I didn’t need help, but that she was welcome to come over and join me.  She did just that with her beautiful daughter in tow & camera, and her daughter brought her Ipod to video tape it too.

Courtesy of Eversole Photography

Since the calf wasn’t use to me feeding him it took about 10 minutes for him to warm up and realize I wasn’t a threat.  I sat on the upside down bucket just like My Farmer does and waited patiently for the calf to come to me.  I squirted some of the formula out of the bottle to show him what was in the bottle and he started salivating.  Shortly after he cautiously walked closer and began to drink.

While I fed the calf our visitors took pictures and video quietly, and I shared with them the unfortunate rejection by the calf’s Mom, which is the reason we are bottle feeding the calf.  It was nice to have the company and extra set of hands while doing my farm chore.  Thanks ladies for joining me, for the extra set of hands, and for the beautiful pictures.

Have you fed a baby animal in need?