Clarabelle At Two Weeks Old

So we wanted to give an update on Clarabelle, Rosie's little heifer that is two weeks old.  While she had a rough start, she has come on really strong in the last 10 or so days.  She has had no problems finding where Rosie's 'milk spigots are and is drinking plenty of milk.  She's growing and is a very spunky little thing.

When we try to get her in the barn at night, she plays games, running away from us with her tail high in the air, dodging us as we try to direct her into the corral.  She is perfectly healthy and we are happy and thankful that things seem to be normal now.

Clarabelle at two weeks old

She follows her mom out into the pasture and normally finds a comfortable place to lie down in the soft grass and nap.  She'll be hidden from sight until Rosie moo's for her and you'll see her head pop up with her big ears flopping to let momma know she's alright.

Out in the pasture with Momma

Rosie is a good momma to her and waits patiently as Clarabelle rotates through all four teats, drinking her fill.  The rich, nutritious milk will enable her to grow quickly.  Rosie is out on the pasture as soon as it gets cool, eating plenty of grass that she converts into milk that her heifer needs. 

Milk!

So we have a few things on the checklist for little Clarabelle.  First thing is sharing the milk.  Just tonight we started on the routine that we normally do.  We allow the calf to be with the momma all day long.  At around 5 pm we separate them and Rosie produces milk for us all night long.  We milk first thing in the morning at 5 am and then allow the calf and cow to be together all day long, essentially splitting the cow's milk production with the calf.  Dairy cows produce more milk than the calf can drink so this process works out so we are BOTH happy.

Next thing is not pleasant, but it must be done - de-horning.  We'll show you the process tomorrow. We also checked to ensure that she has only four teats. Sometimes the little heifers will have 5 teats and we've had to snip the extra one off. Clarabelle has four, so she's all good.  At around 4 months old we'll give her a brucellosis shot and probably at the same time we'll put an identification tattoo inside both of her ears.  We'll start working on halter breaking her as well.  It is easier to get them halter trained while they are young.

Overall, she's doing great and as Tricia remarked earlier this morning, she is a funny little thing with a great personality.