The Fat Ewe Farm and Bed and Breakfast
The Fat Ewe Farm and Moose Hills Inn
Organic Permaculture Farmin' for
the Lazy Ewes
  • The Fat Ewe Farm
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • The Fat Ewe Farm Store
  • Livestock Breeds (click here to see all the breeds)
    • Angora goats
    • Icelandic Sheep
    • Jacob sheep
    • Old English Southdown Babydoll Sheep >
      • Babydoll Sheep on the Fat Ewe Farm
  • Contact Us
    • Photo Gallery (click here for some awesome photos or watch the slideshow) >
      • Video Slide Show
    • Phone Number
    • Map
  • Sale Barn
  • Recipes From the Fat Ewe
    • Old Stuff
  • How Much Meat Do You Get?
  • Ukrainian Easter Eggs
  • Moose Hills Inn

Haltering the Calves

4/18/2015

0 Comments

 
The Fat Ewe Farm has three young calves, a Highland heifer, a Riggit Galloway heifer and a Riggit Galloway bull, all about the same age. They are different sizes though, wiht the bull far the largest, as he should be, then Kylie and then the little Galloway. She is tiny because her mother was 17 and Shona was her last calf. She gave everything to her baby, until 3 months after the birth, when the mom up and died. Poor little Shona was left to fend for herself. Though she survived, without the mother's milk and teaching of the mother, she is small for her age. Likely she will catch up some, but she may always be small, which is just fine for this farm. We have quite a few stories like that, with rescued dogs and deformed ducks and so on. Though they are not given prefrrential treatments, they are welcome to live out their lives here as any other animal would. 

The calves have proved too strong for this old city slicker to try to work with. I tried and got hurt quite badly, bad enough to be wary of trying again. A great young man, one of the nicest people I have met in this area, came to my assistance and offered to halter the calves and work with them on his way home from college on Fridays. He spent just under an hour patiently installing the halter and then allowing the calves to be comfortable wearing it. In order to do that, he ran after them rather than tie them up, explianing to me that tying them can cause them pain when they pull too hard. This way, he can control the tension and when the calves panic, slack off and allow them to run so they do not feel any threat from the experience. That makes sense. 

Dustin was efficient and calm and provided exactly the environment the calves needed. The bull calf, Barclay, was haltered first. He is the calmest and I have been able to pet him on the head for a month now. He was no problem and did not fight the halter at all. Dustin remarked that for a first time, it was as though he had been used to the halter. Second was Kylie, the Highland, who was more difficult, but once she was haltered, because she, too, had been tamed through the winter as I watered her, she calmed down and relaxed and only fought and ran slightly. Then Shona, the baby who had to fend for herself was the last. She fought the most, but still nothing like a wild range calf would. Dustin felt she actually likeed to be stroked. I would imagine that she did too, since she did not have an opportunity to cuddle up to her mother as she grew and even animals need love and touch. 

I must say, Dustin has restored my faith in human kind. He is a wonderful young man with a heart of gold. Most people cannot be bothered to help others they do not know. Dustin and his cousin came to buy some young bantam roosters from me last year and were equally courteous and pleasant then and I am pleased to know both of them. They want to farm together and I have encouraged them to look at organic farming as an option. In the meantime, I am so grateful for Dustin's willingness to help me with the calves. Thank you Dustin. Live green and prosper. 
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Airstream Land Yacht 1964
    Alpacas
    Alpine Goats
    Ameraucana Chickens
    American Buff Geese
    Ancona Ducks
    Angora Goats
    Angora Goats
    Angora Rabbits.
    Babydoll Southdown Sheep
    Babydoll Southdown Sheep
    Bed And Breakfast
    Berkshire Pigs
    Blue Faced Leicester Sheep
    Blue Swedish Ducks
    Boer Goats
    Border Collie
    Border Collie
    Bronze Turkey Standard
    Bronze Turkey (Standard)
    Canadian Horses
    Canadian Horses
    Cats
    Chickens
    Cotswold Sheep
    Crafts And Hobbies
    Cream Legbar Chickens
    Dorset Sheep
    Ducks
    Embden Geese
    E'st A Laine Merino Sheep
    Farm Life
    Farm Life
    Farm Store
    Finnsheep
    Flemish Giant Rabbit
    Flowers
    French Lop Rabbit
    Galloway Cattles
    Gardening
    Gotland Sheep
    Guinea Fowl
    Herbs
    Holstein Steer
    Icelandic Sheep
    Jacob Sheep
    Japanese Bantam Chickens
    Jersey Cow
    Kahaki Campbell Ducks
    Karakul Sheep
    Kiko Goats
    Kilo Highland Cows
    Light Sussex Chicken
    Livestock Guardian Dogs
    Livestock Guardian Dogs
    Maremma Sheepdogs
    Maremma Sheepdogs
    Meishan Pigs
    Miniature Nigerian Dwarf Goats
    Moose Hills Inn
    Muscovy Ducks
    Norwegian Red Dairy Cow
    Nubian Goats
    Nygora Goat
    Ossabaw Hogs
    Partidge Chantecler Chickens
    Pekin Ducks
    Permaculture
    Pied Guinea Fowl
    Polish/Ameraucana Bantam Cross Chickens
    Polled Dorset Sheep
    Potbelly Pigs
    Pygmy Goats
    Recipes
    Rigit Galloway Cows.
    Romanov Sheep
    Romney Sheep
    Rouen Ducks
    Saddleback Pomeranican Geese
    Saxony Ducks
    Sebastopol Geese
    Sheep And Goats
    Shetland Sheep
    Silver Spangled Hamburg Chicken
    Soap And Hand Made Cosmetics
    Standard Jack Donkey
    Sustainability
    Swiss Blackneck Goats
    The Llamas
    The Llamas
    Toulouse Geese
    Tunis Sheep
    White Chantecler Chickens
    White Danish Geese
    Wool

    Author

    Fluffy writes daily about the experiences on the farm and with the bed and breakfast patrons. 

    Archives

    October 2020
    September 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    view old blog site

    RSS Feed

Contact Us
Home

The Fat Ewe Farm 

All text and photos are the sole property of The Fat Ewe Farm  and may not be used without written permission.