I thought I’d show you how cute our calf is. By the end of this post you may concede that she is cute, but ornery.
She is 1/2 Jersey 1/2 Black Angus. Her name is Guinevere. Which I can’t for my life remember. All I seem to be able to remember is that her name has a lot of syllables.
I have called her Methuselah, Maleficent, Genevieve, Gweneth Paltrow, Nemo, Bozo…….
Who names a calf Guinevere?
My 14 year old boy. That’s who.
So, until I can get the word “Guinevere” in my brain she will be Maleficent. That seems to be what flies out of my mouth most often when I am trying to wrangle the bouncing-baby-calf.
Speaking of bouncy.
This calf doesn’t walk, she doesn’t run, I don’t even think I have seen her sleep, all she does is bounce. Literally. We have had calves before. But, we’ve never had a calf like this one.
Is it because she is a girl calf?
Is it because she is 1/2 black Angus?
Is it because she is a nutcase?
Boing! Boing! Boing!
Our other calves were practically unconscious. Adorable, fuzzy, mellow. We could get close to them. We could scratch them behind their ears. We could love them like a family should.
They have all been sweet, gentle, friendly……..
All the calves we’ve had at our place have been laid back and affectionate.
Until now……
This is literally as close as I can get to this calf. She is bouncy, spastic, skittish and a pain in the butt…….
unless…..
You happen to be a cow. Then she’s loving, sweet and easy to work with.
But, I am not a cow, and she thinks I’m the Devil.
So anytime I need to get my hands on her it is a 3 ring circus…….. a circus complete with pee and manure and cussing. Sorry.
Why would I need to get a hold of her?
- dewormer
- to separate her from her mommy so I can have some milk (please)
- to put a harness on her, so I can separate her from her mommy so I can have some milk.
- Dehorning paste
Have you ever tried to catch and harness a baby cow who doesn’t want to be caught?
Good luck.
We managed to get her cornered and couldn’t get the first harness on her. It was too small.
We got her cornered again and tried harness #2. It was too big.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have anything in between to put on her. I’m going to have to order something.
If the pictures make this look easy, let me assure you it was not.
When we finished wrestling with the baby cow my oldest daughter and I were covered with baby cow poop and pee. I fell into a fresh momma-cow cowpie, so I had a little grown-up cow manure slathered on my jeans too.
All in a day’s work.
Maleficent – It fit’s her don’t you think?
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🙂
Candi
