Saturday, May 5, 2007

Moo Moo

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I live on a farm out in the country. We have quite the array of animals: the traditional cows, horses, rabbits, and chickens in addition to the more exotic emus, guinea hens, and peacocks. Currently, we are bottle feeding three baby calves. Each is a different age so each receives a different amount of milk and of course all three eat at different paces. As they are all in the same pen, they must be fed at exactly the same time. When the first finishes you must keep it occupied so it doesn't steal milk from the other two. This is most easily accomplished by letting the calf suck on your fingers. I have milked cows and goats before. I have also bottle fed calves numerous times before, but never more than one calf at a time. Thus, this was the first time I have had a calf suck on my fingers. It feel like something sucking on your finger, no surprise there. But just so you know, calf spit is like the super spit of spits. It's not just saliva, but it's a more mucousy substance. It puts a rather gross coating on your finger that takes a few washes to get off. Still, I have decided that this is an experience everyone should have at least once. Next time you run into a calf, don't let the opportunity pass you by.

2 comments:

Todd said...

i will be sure to put that on my to do list for life

Ariel said...

Actually, it is pretty cool. I did it when I was in Wisconsin a few years ago and I think I also did it when we had calves when I was little.