How it all began…

When Sunday came to us, she was heavily pregnant. Her previous owner assured us that she was due to give birth within a week, or two, at most. It was a beautiful April, and we waited anxiously, hoping that everything would go well and easily. We had plenty of book learning on the process, but no real experience, and it seemed a little daunting!

Sure enough, a week later, Lucy came running down to the house, calling out that she was sure something was happening. We all hurried up to the barn, cautioning the little ones to be quiet and still, to not spook a mama about to give birth. But there it was - already born, a lovely little black bull calf, wet and staggering as Sunday licked it eagerly.

She was not trained to be a family milk cow, but we had already found her to be extraordinarily gentle and approachable, so I carefully walked up to her. She licked me, too, and seemed very happy and comfortable with my presence. The kids watched, breathless, as I gently investigated, and then just stood with our new mama, stroking her and talking softly. Her previous calf had been removed at birth, as most dairy calves are, so I didn’t know if she would know how to be a mama, but it came naturally for her. Soon her little calf was up, peering around at us and nursing eagerly. And so began our milky journey!