Meet Buttercup, our Jersey cow. Yes you read that right, our Jersey cow. No we are not a dairy farm. Yes we raise Angus beef cattle. Well then what is a Jersey cow doing at our
farm and why is she letting an Angus calf nurse on her?
Well Buttercup is kind of a celebrity here at At Ease Acres,
and she definitely has a very important job and she is appreciated greatly for
doing that job so well.
So here is the next question…how is a Jersey cow become a
mother to an Angus calf? No, that Angus
calf is not her biological calf, and no the Angus calf was not an embryo
transplant calf. She was a twin!
How exciting, Twins!
With beef cattle having twins can be a blessing and a curse as many
producers know. Twin births happen in
less that 1 to 7 percent of births and the breed of cattle and genetics play a
role. Like in humans, the gestation time
of twins can be 1 to 2 weeks earlier than a normal single gestation. And as a mom of 4 kids, 2 of which are
twins. I feel for these cows…a double
birth is definitely a lot more uncomfortable!
Also like humans, twin calves do tend to be smaller than
their single birth counterparts.
Sometimes even 20 lbs less at birth!
In this calf’s case, she and her brother were both about 40
lbs at birth. This for an Angus calf is
small for sure. Many of our calves,
depending on genetics and breeding will be born around 65 to 80 lbs and yes we
have had larger ones.
So now the reason for Buttercup’s appearance on our
farm. These twin calves were born to a
young heifer, who try as she might would have had a hard time caring for two
calves. A more mature cow may have been
better equipped and more experienced but in order to give this mother and her
calves a much better chance we decided to bring in Buttercup. With only one calf to care for, this heifer
will have just enough milk for her single calf and she herself will be able to
maintain a good healthy body condition. Her
single calf will grow at a prosperous weight and will be weaned at a weight
comparable to its single birth counterparts in the herd. And the same is to be said with the calf that
Buttercup has now claimed to be her own.
Jersey cows are known to love any calf and will be a foster mother
better than most other breeds. And it
was love at first sight for Buttercup.
She saw that calf and she claimed it as hers. She cares and protects it just like it was
her own. And for that we are
thankful!
So if you happen by our farm and see Buttercup, no we haven’t
switched from beef to dairy…though I do love ice cream! We are just giving a cow, and her calves a
great start. And Buttercup, she loves her
job and we love her for doing it so well.
She will be a celebrity in our herd for quite some time!
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