Faces Only Cows and 'Dairy Farm Newbies" Could Love?

Some of the cutest animals on dairy farms are, of course, newborn and young calves. Here, by name, are some of the calves I take care of on a daily basis:

"LITTLE RED"

Little Red is a red & white Holstein bull calf. He's three weeks old. He's quite the "ham" and is very photogenic...

(If he does not find success in the stud-industry, he can always support himself as a stand up comedian or an ant or termite control specialist?)

"BIG RED"

Big Red I don't know too well, as he predated my calf-involvement by about a week (I think that's like a year in cow to human-Newbie years). But he's a handsome fellow despite the fact that he's rather standoffish.

"TATTOO (or TATT)"

The first calf I named, and I only started to name them to keep from mixing them up when it came to feeding instructions, which can change daily (some need special supplements at certain times while others just get straight milk replacer). I came up with "Tattoo" on the fly because of the little tattoo-like black markings on her nose.

"SHAKER"

Shaker got her name on her second day of life whilst I was still feeding her colostrum (first mother's milk that contains all kinds of wonderful goodies, like special antibodies and extra nutrition, designed by nature to give the new babe a better chance at survival and good health.)

"Shaker" is "Shaker" simply because the poor little girl was shaking like a leaf that evening I first fed her!

"SMALL STATE"

Small State got the name because of the small white marking on her head that reminded me of a small state - like perhaps Connecticut (?). Her next door neighbor has a large white marking on her head, and is called "Big State" (more on her next).

"BIG STATE"

Big State is so named simply because the big white patch on top of her head reminds me of a big state - like Texas! Big State is a real sweetie, and even though she's been weaned off of milk replacer, she likes to affectionately lick my arm as I'm feeding her next door neighbor, "Small State".

"STEVIE"

As in "Stevie" Nicks. I was listening to the Fleetwood Mac album "Dreams" the day I named her, and I thought because she's so small (tiny, really), with big beautiful eyes and long lashes - not to mention the way she likes to twirl around whenever a white winged dove flies by - that "Stevie" would be appropriate.

"GIBBY"

Named after my 2-year old great nephew, Gabriel, who goes by "Gibby". Gibby has the cutest head of red curls, and when I first saw this calf, I noticed she has red curls on top of her head as well!

I'll be sure to do a Volume 2 when we get some more calves :)