Fiona has been reunited with Panda. She doesn’t mind me feeding him his bottle. She was overjoyed to see him again. Every time I went to feed her and Violet, she fussed at me, as if asking about her calf.
It would have been sooner, but the heat gave Panda mild scours yesterday so I had to give him extra electrolytes until his poop was more formed. Panda went right to his mommy. Good boy gets to be in his herd.
So nice they can be back together!! Good Mamas love their calves. They don’t forget each other, even after years apart!
I learned a lot about cattle, heifers in particular, when DD had her 4H calves. MUCH smarter than they get credit for! They like certain people better than others, despite treats. One tested the fence daily, by touching wire with whiskers. Never got out, but always checking. We had bells on them, in case they ever did get out, to help find them and gave us a collar to grab if needed. Cows can be quite invisible if they want to hide! Even red ones don’t stand out well in woody growth.
Looking at her face, I wouldn’t be able to keep her calf away from her either.
What a relief it must be that she doesn’t mind you feeding him. Do you think he’ll try to nurse from the other cow once she calves and he sees the other calf nursing?
Is there a chance she’ll let him? I know nothing about cows.
Will you tell the Vet who did the mastectomy that Fiona is a mother now?
Sometimes a cow will allow it. Often the calves will sneak between her back legs, lol.
Awwww! I kind of miss bottle baby days at our house 
It’s a long, dramatic story --wasn’t even really our cows – they belonged to this nut job of a tenant we’d inherited. Little guy’s mom died of mastititis and I was not about to let him die too on my watch. Whenever I went out there the other adult cows would come running and try to drink the bottle 
Arguing with adult Longhorns is a tad intimidating. Even the friendly ones.
I’m chuffed that his mom seems to understand the situation and is content to have him eat with you and then come back out to her for momma love
Fiona is a big pet. She is very close to us and seems to understand us. She complained at me every day until I gave her baby back to her. Finally, at evening feeding, I brought him into the pasture and she was ecstatic. No hard feelings either.
Then, the very next morning after Panda went home, here comes Fiona for breakfast mooing happily. No Panda. As she’s walking toward me, I ask her, “Fiona, where’s Panda?” I kid you not, Fiona whips her head around and sees the little guy isn’t behind her. She moos and fast walks back to their sleeping place. I followed her and we found him still sleeping. Fiona looked a little sheepish (can a cow do that?). It was the funniest moment.
So, is this little fella going to be someone’s pet for his lifetime? He sure is adorable!
It really depends on his manners. Getting back with mom was best because he needs to know he’s a cow. We’re quietly correcting little things to keep him from being pushy or stepping on toes when he’s getting his bottles. We have a small herd and cows need company. Fiona is quite old. If he can stay in the herd peacefully, that’s fine.
Keeping a pet steer into old age can be expensive. Husband the Farrier had a couple “pet cow/steer clients” that he trimmed along with the clients’ horses.
Sparky was a 4H steer project of a little girl. She worked and worked with him until he was the perfect show steer. They did very well at Fair, so he was among the first of the cattle in the auction of meat animals. She got into the ring and THEN heard the announcer saying what great steaks he would make! She burst into tears and yelled to her father, “They are going to EAT Sparky!!” Nothing else for it but her Dad had to buy Sparky! His “friends” helped run the price WAYYY up, so Sparky was 5 figures when he sold to Dad. Not quite as bad as it sounds, since Dad was fairly well off and the sale price money goes back to the kid. Well Sparky went home with his girl and lived to be elderly, a burden to her parents. Girl grew up, moved away, leaving her 2 old horses and Sparky at home. He outlived the horses, was the last pet until they needed to put him down. Close to 20 years old. Husband said he was real easy to trim, held his legs up, stood MUCH better than their horses! The Dad had to get in a backhoe to dig the BIG hole because he was a huge steer in maturity.
Another cow client had a Brown Swiss cow who got trimmed along with the horses. Also a pet, never had a calf that I know of. Brown Swiss are HUGE cows and she was the husband’s pet. He loved walking her, grooming her and she loved him. She was also very well trained, held up her feet nicely, no leaning. Husband told the husband that the cow was getting overweight, hooves were starting to show problems. He suggested taking cow for more walking exercise to lose weight. So the husband started walking her out to the mailbox daily. Driveway is half a mile long, so a good length out and back. My husband noticed a definate weight improvement, better muscle tone in the cow on his next visit and complimented the owner on getting cow exercised. Wife spoke to my husband while getting her horses done, thanking him for the cow exercise suggestion! She said “You can’t tell with his winter clothing, but Bill is also losing weight!!” My Husband retired soon after that, but DD took over his Farrier practice. She continued to do their cow and horses. Cow finally had to be put down with old age and the walking ceased. DD said cow was very fit and trim when she went and Bill was too!!
Fiona at the fair. She was the youngest calf, so she was next to us.
First time playing with kids
Two of her many appearances as a nativity cow (we just volunteered to bring our donkey, Fiona and a few sheep).
Keeping any pet, including a horse, is expensive.
Great pictures. Fiona is definately one of the best!!
Update: I need some “get a clue” jingles/prayers for Violet the Hereford cross heifer and her new bull calf. She’s Fiona’s pasture mate. While Fiona is the epitome of cow maternal behavior (even without her udder) Violet hasn’t a clue how to feed that little brown and white thing that popped out of her last night. She moos to him and licks him nicely, but she won’t let him nurse. We tried everything. No letdown. Nothing. Panda is out with her and Fiona and we hope he’ll sneak attack her udder and make it less painful. Meanwhile, Norman (our son insisted on that name) has been tube fed twice and tried the bottle, just a little. I’m hoping he gets a clue as well. Panda took an hour or so to learn to nurse from a bottle. This guy just won’t stay latched on.
Put together a plan with the vet. We’ll pick up some meds and bring them into the cow corral tomorrow. Fingers crossed for a nursing calf when we’re all done.
Jingles!
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