If you read my first post here, you'll be aware that we own four Toggenburg bucks. In all dairy industries you are left with 'reject' calves, kids and lambs. We rescued our four from the local dairy at a couple of weeks old, bottle fed them and raised them ever since. They'd be nearing around seven years old now, and as one of our local vets said, have 'never seen a bad day in their lives'. Currently they're rotated between two pastures year round, sometimes with extra hay and garden clippings to eat. Now, however, we have a few new additions on the agenda.
Bobby calves are possibly one of the most common 'reject' offspring you will find in the agriculture industry. Often separated from their mothers at a few days old, they are sent away on what dairy farmers call 'calf trucks', inevitably headed to the abattoir to be sold as veal at high prices. My mother and I have been vegetarian for what I might say is the past five years or so, and have always been compassionate but recently as a result of watching Earthlings, we started to question whether we might be able to open our farm to a rescue calf or two, trying to awkwardly balance between how many we can save, and how much space we have on the property. Knowing me, it didn't take long to search Gumtree to find calves being sold at some days and weeks old. I contacted a few sellers trying to find the best and most viable option - as we do not live at the farm and visit every few weeks, bottle feeding the calves for a few weeks at our city home would be our only option until they are weaned. As a note, our backyard here is large and although an odd idea, could accommodate two calves for a few weeks. I soon came across a seller who purchases bobby calves at a few days old and raises them until buyers show interest, varying the age at which the calves are bought. Most, if not all of the calves he sells go towards slaughter. He and I negotiated about their purchase for a few days, finding an appropriate price for the two four week olds, a Swiss and a Jersey bull. I have already paid a deposit, and we will pick them up on the on the week following Easter if everything goes to plan.
The Brown Swiss is a North American breed known to have a high milk yield, while Jerseys are a smaller breed popular for the high fat content in their milk, originating from the Channel Island of Jersey. Although the seller claims that he is selling us a Jersey, to me he looks like a Jersey crossed with Friesian as a result of the white patches. The image below shows the two calves nursing from a rack feeder, although we will most likely use the authentic bottle feeding method as it may help build a bond between us and the calves. Names we've hardly discussed so far, although as a result of the unfortunate naming of our goats when we were younger, we'll probably put more thought into naming these two. I'm excited to be a part of this experience and can't wait to pick them up, we've never owned anything much larger than a dog so I think these two will be fascinating to watch grow. Obviously in the coming days we'll be doing a lot more research on the specifics of raising calves and cattle in general, and most likely trying to make further arrangements so they melt seamlessly into our lifestyle, but I'll keep further update on how they're faring!
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