Four new calves born this week!!!

Three chicas an one chico!! About 20 more to go.

Man are they cute.

and watch them frolic in the fields. you know it`s spring when they are in the fields

:hi:

24 calves is a lot to take care of! Are they beef or dairy cows?
My favorite is the Jersey. They are so pretty!

As best I can tell, they're Venezuelan Heinz 57's.

But they are darned cute.

The mommas are dairy cows. Several of the group have had multiple youngsters but most are pregnant for the first time.

They are a lot to take care of but they're also a lot of fun.

I miss having little foals around but I drive by quite a few cattle ranches on the way to my farm and this time of the year is always so much fun to see the little ones. Every now and then I come upon a birth. Always it amazes me. Have fun. BTW, how long do you wait to castrate the little chico? We do horses differently I suppose. Just wondering.

That was my first question when I saw one of them was a chico.

But I was told by those who know more about this subject than I that in Venezuela they typically don't castrate. Bulls seem to bring more money due to size.

Just another reason why beef here is not very good on the plate.

OK. Beef cattle here are mainly steers (I think, I do horses not cows) although they do slaughter bulls as well. I think it may be mainly an issue of the keeping of them since the bulls must be kept apart from the cows to allow for record keeping on the herd and to have calving at a certain time. Also, good bulls are kept for propagation for good herds. OK, I am talking outta my ass right now, this is the little I have culled from hanging around the farmers. Bulls can be a real handful, I know, I have been sent out on my horse on a few bull gathering expeditions. I would rather not have to deal with them again. :hi:

Edit to add I would love someone who actually knows if what I gathered from hanging out at the feed store is correct.

But I'm not 100% sure of that. I've heard that's the case for hogs, but unfortunately, I know about as much about bulls as you.

Fortunately, I've got a brother-in-law who's lived his entire life on dairy farms, so he knows what he's doing.

What state you in?

(maybe) Was on a bus from Cuidad Bolivar to Cumana, right through El Tigre and Barcelona. Really wanted to go to a ranch in los Llanos but there wasn't time. Nice country you have there -- I really enjoyed Venezuela.

Edited to add pics of central Venezuela:

Wanna see your new little gangly legged cutie pies! And if you can mommas too!

I went to my uncle's farm in NC every summer.. and I loved the cows horses,ducks, chickens and all the animals there. I miss the cows alot.Cows are so gentle and such characters. One thing I don't miss is getting cow licked'kisses'..tons of slimy green cow spit on my face,in my ear..oh..yeeech.
But somehow I can't get mad at a cow that does that,just grossed out for about a minute..until I wipe it off.One cow belle loved to chew my mowhawk tips..LOL I stopped spiking it at the farm cause of her.My uncle would laugh at my floppy hawk when I came in.I was the butt of a few jokes. To a teenager that's a horror.

And actually, I need to photograph all of these animals for ID purposes. They're all branded, but it certainly helps to have a quality pic if there's a dispute about ownership.

One of the newer ones we purchased immediately escaped twice from a holding pen. She later disappeared from the pasture and I was afraid she'd either been killed and butchered or was lost forever in the mountains.

Fortunately, last week she showed up again.