Last Friday my husband texted me ever so casually and said someone is bringing a bucket calf home for the boys. I about replied with the eye-rolling emoji but refrained. I had an inkling that I’d end up taking care of it.
The calf arrived later that evening, bigger and healthier than I’d expected. I’ve experienced bucket calves that had no will to live and would just give you hope by finishing their bottle eagerly one evening and be dead in the morning. The little bull calf that we got was big and had apparently been stealing milk from the rest of the cows in the herd. I neglected to get milk replacer on Friday, but we set the calf up with some fresh water, a little bit of horse feed and some alfalfa to get through the night.
Saturday morning the boys and I ventured to town and got some supplies to feed the new member of the family. I opted for a small bag of milk replacer because after seeing this calf, I didn’t want to invest in a nearly $50 bag of milk, not knowing how long he’d need it. I got a new feed pan and a bottle with nipple. Once home, I mixed up a bottle and we had to get a rope on this calf just to get him close enough to give him the bottle. After educating him a little on how to suck he drank about 3/4 of a bottle.
He wouldn’t eat much that evening and the next morning and I noticed he had a little bit of diarrhea, and worried he’d just give up the ghost. Well, he has proven my negative thoughts wrong by eagerly gobbling his next bottle and every one since.
I told my oldest son that he’s in charge of feeding. The last two mornings I’ve had to practically drag him out of bed and get him to feed this calf. He’s not opposed to doing the job, it’s just the job comes at 7 in the morning for a kid on summer break. My youngest is not interested in the calf at all, and Fred, our Corgi has done nothing but bark at it and try to bite it. He’s getting better though and maybe they might become friends.
Hopefully by the end of summer break, we’ll all be better for taking care of this bucket calf. If not, Mom just might find her own "project" that starts with an "h" and ends with an "e."
