Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Calf on a Leash

Last night, Tom took the calf for a walk. The calf is no longer the cuddly, baby-cow-eyes, little baby. He is a big boy now. All that goat milk is doing his body good. Suffice to say the calf is not a very easy thing to walk on a leash. Tom went in the pen with the calf and got his halter on. Then Tom opened the gate. The calf bolted out of the gate in a flash that would make a Derby horse proud. Tom was inside the pen as the calf bolted to the outside of the pen. As the calf spent out the rope he was on he jerked Tom into the gate. Luckily Tom carries a chainsaw around all day and he was able to pull on the rope and get the calf stopped quick. The calf spun around when he reached the end of the rope and landed on the ground with legs out in every direction. He recovered quickly, lept up and ran to the end of the rope again. After hitting the ground two more times he figured out that he needed to stop running to the end of his rope.

Tom took the calf over to Ethel, the older Jersey heifer. Ethel looked through the fence at the little calf and knew that he was one of her kind. They haven't seen each other in a few months because the calf has been in the goat pen behind the barn and Ethel has been in the cow pasture. Ethel wanted to get closer to the calf but didn't dare go near the electric fence. She snorted and kicked dirt up over her back to show her disgust with not being able to get near the calf. The calf and Tom walked around the outside of Ethel's pasture with Ethel following on the inside of her fence. After a few minutes Tom took the calf back to his pen and let him get the rest of his dinner.