One of the sad parts of raising cattle is that occasionally a baby calf is orphaned. But God made ranchers who take those baby calves and feed them by a bottle. Then it becomes something sweet you can share with a little kid.

I remember caring for many orphaned calves throughout my childhood. One year my dad and I found a 2- or 3-day old calf sitting next to his expired momma in the snow. We were so surprised that the coyotes hadn’t gotten the calf. He was later named “Milk Dud,” and became a fixture in the barn long after he was weaned.

 

 

These little bottle babies can become pets. One thing I’ve always noticed is that they just never do as well as the calves that have mommas, even if momma isn’t that good. Today was Jdubs first time to bottle feed a baby calf.

It was precious and Jdubs decided to name him “Jingle.” On the way out of the barn today, Jdubs said, “don’t worry Jingle, you’ll be big someday.”