by Jan Fielden
We have some new little calves in the Yearling Pasture. There is nothing cuter than a newborn calf! They appear to be over awed at the world around them. They soon run to and fro and look all around. Everything is investigated by them and I mean everything.
They are too little to get anything out of the feeder and there wouldn’t be anything in there that they needed right away anyway, but they will walk all around a feeder and raise their heads trying to see what it holds. If anything makes a sudden noise or a noise that they are not expecting, they jump! The calves will jump at almost anything anyway.
Soon, however, they get initiated into the spooky world of going through gates, or I should say trying not to go through the gates. It always ends with them finally going through kicking their heels up as if to say, “I showed you” after they are on the other side of the gate. They also pick a friend or friends to hang out with. Sometimes there will be a group of 5 or more that all hang out together and sometimes, for whatever reason, it will be just 2 who seem to be best friends. They run and play, kick up their heels, chase each other, etc.
Eventually, even when they are quite young, they will stick together and not follow the herd. Almost always it is daylight when this occurs because sooner or later their Mommas come and get them wherever they are! Sometimes, they even search out their Momma when the light starts to dim.
We enjoy watching the calves and all animals that call the Red Oak Ranch home!
