19/06/2026
TW: loss, pregnancy loss
After our happy announcement yesterday we have some bittersweet news, which the keen eyed amongst you might have seen we mentioned in our stories recently. So here’s an update on our highland cows.
Our beautiful Highland cow Helga was brought from their field to the main yard in anticipation of the birth of her calf a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, her little bullcalf was stillborn, cows are very maternal animals and we didn’t want her to grieve so we acted fast and found an orphan calf nearby and agreed to attempt a surrogate/adoption with Helga for both of their benefit. If she rejected the calf then it would be hand reared with our other bottle fed calves. After a careful introduction and lots of monitoring by farmer Beccy, Helga has bonded with this adopted little boy and is both loving and feeding him. Aunt Hettie is happy to oversee and will no doubt be keeping him in check once they’re back in the field.
So if you’re looking at Helga’s little calf and thinking he’s an excellent colour match but not as fluffy as his mummy that’s because he’s actually a Jersey calf. We are really happy we could give Helga some comfort in her loss and that her milk isn’t going to waste and that this lovely, gentle little boy gets a loving mummy.
We’ve called him Hector and he will stay with Helga and Hettie until he reaches adolescence. They’re ready to head back out to their field now so you can see the three of them by taking our tractor ride down to visit them.
We’re not entirely sure what caused Helga’s calf to be stillborn but we wanted to share this news with you to raise awareness that farming is not always easy, sometimes it can seem really unfair but we are very glad that on this occasion we managed a happy ending.
Thank you as always for your support!