Elsie is our little Jersey heifer that Clarabelle has on April 7th. Today she is three months old. She is a pretty little calf and is officially registered with the American Jersey Cattle Association. At two weeks old, we dehorned her with an electric de-horning iron. At 3 months old you cannot even tell at all where the horns were.
Elsie is the tamest calf, but we've worked with her methodically every night putting a breaking halter on her and tying her up to a post. We brush her and gently talk to her. Over time, she's come to trust us and is very gentle. Elsie is the calf in the back with the halter on. In front of her, with no halter, is LuLu. She's Rosie's heifer. We'll start working with her soon.
Elsie and LuLu are half sisters and are partners in crime. They run around the barnyard helter-skelter, with their tails high in the air, chasing chickens with dust and feathers flying. They kick their heels in the air mischievously kicking the barn with a loud "thwack" sound that echoes across the pasture.
Elsie is a growing calf. She drinks all of Clarabelle's milk and then proceeds to go and share Rosie's milk with LuLu. LuLu better be careful or she won't get enough! We weigh Elsie by using a measuring tape that converts inches in girth to pounds.
At about a month, she was 31 1/2 inches in girth, or 92 lbs.
At two months, she was 175 lbs.
At three months, Elsie was 42" in girth, or 240 lbs!
We'll keep you updates with how things are going. I guess the next milestone for her will be when we wean her.
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