I’ve been shopping for a calf to put on Sienna, but no luck yet. To keep to my easy milking routine, I’ll need to put a new calf on Sienna when I wean her calf, Seven-Up. He’s four months old now and turned into a nuisance. 

I separate Seven-Up overnight from his mama when I want to milk her in the morning. When I go out to let Sienna into the barn, he now follows me too close for comfort and jumps around with his head down, ready to head-butt me. I kicked him in the nose this morning when he tried. He obviously has too much Jersey in him. Male Jerseys are known to be aggressive; click here for that story.

The whole time I milk, Seven-Up stands outside the barn bawling like he hasn’t eaten in days. Then he’s so rough on Sienna when he does get at her. I’m fed up with him and ready to put him in another pasture, far from mama. 

My horse, Shiloh, will probably miss him though. As with Sienna, Shiloh has taken an interest in Seven-Up. They seem to be buddies. The other day I witnessed Seven-Up licking Shiloh and rubbing his head on him.

I would like to find either a Jersey or Holstein bull calf to put on Sienna, because they are usually cheap. Some dairies don’t like to keep the males, so they sell them off as bottle calves. Alternatively, beef calves are ridiculously expensive. I should be able to find a dairy calf for $50 or less; I hope. If you are wondering why they are so cheap, then you have never had a bottle calf. Firstly, the formula you have to feed them is expensive. Secondly, you have to feed them a bottle at least twice a day, morning and evening. (Quite the time commitment.) Thirdly, bottle calves aren’t as healthy as those raised on their mamas. They can easily become sick, and they don’t put on weight as well.

Obviously, it will be a lot easier to have Sienna raise the calf than me. No bottle necessary. So far, everything I’ve found for sale online has either already been sold, is too expensive, is too old, or is too far away. The search continues…

Now that I’ve entered my third trimester of pregnancy, I’m eager to get a new calf trained to nurse off Sienna before I get any larger and more uncomfortable. Can you blame me?