Trending
Hello, my name is Natalee Zug. I am 12 years old and a Juniata County Dairy Miss. I live on my family's dairy farm in Van Wert.
On our farm, and on most farms, cows give birth to a calf every fourteen months. For two or three months before giving birth, the cow rests and does not produce milk. Before giving birth to a calf, the pregnant cow is housed in a pen filled with soft dry bedding such as straw, sand or sawdust. She is given individual care and attention. During the birth, farmers and their employees keep a close eye on the animals to ensure a healthy birth. Calves are separated from their mothers to ensure the best individual care and monitoring of both animals, especially in the first 24 hours because it is not uncommon for some cows to ignore their calves. This guarantees that calves receive colostrum, a mother cow's first milk. Colostrum helps boost the calf's immune system.
For the first three months of a calf's life, it lives in a clean dry individual pen. These pens have ample space for the calf to freely move around, and they also protect the calf from other members of the herd and bad weather. It will, at most farms, be moved to group pens, to begin socializing with its herd mates.
Healthy calves grow up to be healthy productive cows.