Cute Cows

One of our neighbors keeps a few cattle, just a handful. I don't know how it happens, but he always has the cutest cows, ones with faces like Halloween skulls or odd little socks. They're probably dairy/beef crosses. Abby is one such; she's got a skull face AND socks. And Abby (the kids named her) threw a calf who's even cuter than she is, and the kids named the calf Veronica.

They came back from a bike ride raving about the new calf, and begged me to come out and see her. She was worth the ride.

Veronica was having lunch, with many feisty butts to the bag. When a calf wants its mother's milk to let down, it butts her udder. The mama cow takes it with aplomb, though I've seen a big calf lift its mother's hind feet off the ground doing this.



We sat in the car and watched Veronica having lunch, and I told the kids about lactation and what was going on here.

I doubt that it will even occur to Phoebe and Liam, as it did not occur to me, to feed their babies with bottles. The natural way is the only way they know.