Otto Ranch

My boys are picky eaters, but on steak night, they’re bottomless pits 🤣

I got to eat about 1/4 of this porterhouse… the three year old ate the rest of it. I could barely keep up with the demand!

Born and raised on our farm; Grass fed and finished! ❤️

Happy Birthday Fergie! ❤️ Had to give her some birthday scratches this morning!

Beautiful day to bale some hay! 🚜

Our newest baby is this cutie little bull calf! 😍❤️

Things happen quickly on the farm!

5:30 pm - I noticed some discharge from this first calf heifer (Penelope).

9:00 pm - Checked cows and she had hopped my single strand of electric wire and went off and calved in the woods! Baby was already cleaned off and on its feet nursing when I found them.

I’ll check the calf’s gender tomorrow. It was getting dark, she was already doing her job, and I’m sure hormones are running high so I didn’t want to stress this new mama out!

We have three more babies to go this calving season!

The handsomest boys ❤️

Despite the constant-state-of-alarm look on her face, baby “U” and Queenie are doing great and will be kicked out of the barn this evening!

We will also need name suggestions for this little lady that starts with a “U”! 👀

When to intervene: The only right answer here is, “Before it’s too late”. Now, I’m a worry wart, and riddled with anxiety, so I tend to err on the side of caution 😅

This little heifer calf is an absolute wild child. She is always off hiding in the tall grass, and we had only spotted her 3 times since she was born. I had a little bit of time before work this morning to go look for her, and when I found her she was calling for mom (Queenie) but seemed unsure of where to go.

I carried her wriggly little self up to the barn, which she protested greatly, and she was HUNGRY. She tried to nurse off of anyone and everyone, and received more than one hoof to the face in the process. Then when she finally did find Queenie, mom was very distracted by all of the other cows and didn’t stand the best for baby to nurse, and baby was trying to nurse everywhere (chest, armpit, belly, etc).

I decided then that it was better to be safe than sorry; I carried baby up into the barn and then was able to corral Queenie in with her. They have their own fresh water, hay, straw bedding, a fan, and nothing but time to bond! Queenie is being a very good mom, and the calf is still super energetic and seems healthy, but this way there are less distractions for both of them and I will feel better knowing they are tucked into the barn together safely!

Just like deer, cows have a very strong natural instinct to hide their calves while the mothers are off grazing during the day.

This is great, except, then I get to spend my lunch break on an Easter egg hunt looking for babies 🤣 Can you spot our new heifer calf in the first photo? I had been searching for 30 minutes and almost walked right past her!

Once I found her I just checked to make sure she was still doing well; bright and alert, mouth is warm, belly full of milk, and then I let her be. She will go find mom when she gets hungry!

Update: she had a gorgeous little heifer calf all by herself and is being the best mama! 😍

There’s nothing more nerve-wracking than a first calf heifer in labor 😅