Introducing...

[zazanomore]

My baby calves!

Maximus - 1 week

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Pascal - 1 week

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Eugene - 3 weeks

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3 male holstein babies.

We rent a piece of property out in the country, where we store a lot of our stuff. This property comes with a barn and a HUGE pasture. It's been a dream of my step dad to raise calves for quite a few years now. My mom finally let him buy three!

Of course, since I'm an animal lover, they will be my responsibility. I will be brushing them, feeding them, watering them, and cleaning the stall.

We have a barn on the property, but the area is actually too small. And since we are in the transportation business, we have extra trailers laying around. We actually converted one into a barn. We built vents, had an electrician come and hook us up with power, heaters and they even have a night light on the ceiling.

I've been begging to get a horse ever since we had to sell ours about 5 years ago. I guess 3 babies will be my replacement horse.

I know that eventually they will be killed, but I'm going to give them the best life they can possibly have!

[patdbunny]

Does your step dad know he can't raise more w/out a female? Just kiddin!!

I know of some 4-H'ers nearby that got their project calves to the point they could ride them.

Your babies could luck out. One of our local dairy farms buy 4-H calf bulls for their dairy farm and they don't get killed.

[zazanomore]

i wish they were that lucky!

Too bad dairy farmers don't need an abundance of bulls.

That's probably why we get them for so cheap. 100$ per calf.

[patdbunny]

The most valuable advice a friend of mine gave me when I first started keeping animals that I would eventually kill - Don't play with the food.

Hard to do sometimes. I still can't kill one of my goats for food; and I love eating goat.

[kaylayuh]

I love baby cows, they are so adorable! It's a shame they'll die eventually.

On a related note.. my brother's godfather raised a pig that he called Wilbur. When we went to visit him in North Carolina, he showed us that we could ride Wilbur. He would eat whole watermelons out of our hand. Wilbur was a huge pig. I was five at the time. The next summer, we went to see my brother's godfather again. He made us bacon for dinner, and said we could go see the new piglets after dinner. When we asked where Wilbur was, he said we just ate him.

After that.. I didn't eat pork for a good 15 years. Something just weirds me out about playing with an animal and then killing it for food, lol.

[patdbunny]

That Wilbur thing's just wrong! Don't play with the food!!!

My husband grew up rural and he said a neighbor raised rabbits for food. Dude was twisted. Let the little kids play with the bunnies and everything and then broke their necks right in front of the kids. Totally traumatized those poor kids. And we wonder where the Jeffrey Dahmers of the world come from.

Kids aren't so traumatized if they understand the little animal's going to be food and don't attach to the food. My kid's not happy about any killing, but she knows and doesn't play with the food.

BTW - those little calves are way too cute. I think bulls are created to grow up nasty so we don't feel so bad turning them into burgers and BBQ.

[zazanomore]

The pictures do them no justice! They are little butter balls. They come up to me and try suckling on my jacket.

Max loves it when I scratch his chin and behind his ears.

My husband grew up rural and he said a neighbor raised rabbits for food. Dude was twisted. Let the little kids play with the bunnies and everything and then broke their necks right in front of the kids. Totally traumatized those poor kids. And we wonder where the Jeffrey Dahmers of the world come from.

My mom's friend raised a bunny for food. All her friends would play with it, but eventually he had to be turned to food. Of course they didn't kill the bunny in front of the children.

[zazanomore]

I love baby cows, they are so adorable! It's a shame they'll die eventually.

On a related note.. my brother's godfather raised a pig that he called Wilbur. When we went to visit him in North Carolina, he showed us that we could ride Wilbur. He would eat whole watermelons out of our hand. Wilbur was a huge pig. I was five at the time. The next summer, we went to see my brother's godfather again. He made us bacon for dinner, and said we could go see the new piglets after dinner. When we asked where Wilbur was, he said we just ate him.

After that.. I didn't eat pork for a good 15 years. Something just weirds me out about playing with an animal and then killing it for food, lol.

Every year my Aunt has a pig roast party. Her kids never eat pork because they saw the pig being killed.

[patdbunny]

My next door neighbor asked if we wanted to be in on raising a calf for slaughter. At first I was totally on board. Then my husband brought to my attention it would probably not be a good idea as I would probably go over and play with it. And I'd already named it and he didn't even get it yet - Chuck Porterhouse.

[kaylayuh]

I have a hard time eating anything that wasn't gotten in a grocery store.. that is, unless it's a fruit or vegetable. One Thanksgiving, my grandfather and uncles went out and hunted turkey for dinner. No one would eat it because we had to watch it be plucked and gutted. Something about seeing it done just makes me not want to eat meat ever.

And I couldn't imagine eating a bunny. Bunnies are cute, not something I would think to eat. Then again, I eat mostly chicken and soy products, so my sense of what meat is "okay" to eat might be off.

I also wouldn't think to eat other cultural dishes, either. My boyfriend's dad eats tacos de lengua and the thought of them makes me gag. So do things like pork feet, liver, and my grandfather's Thanksgiving favorite of turkey gizzards.

Ugh.