06/20/2026
When Michael went out to milk, our CowManager ear tag sent an alert. He found a beautiful, full-sized little heifer calf out in the field! Her mom, Missouri, wasn't supposed to calve until September. We pregnancy checked her in October and November with no luck, and it wasn't until December that she finally tested positive. We had absolutely no idea she was due so soon and had only recently dried her off when she started springing.
Our new little girl isn't completely out of the woods just yet. Since Missouri was only making colostrum for two weeks, she didn't give a lot this morning. We aren't sure if the calf nursed before Michael found her, so we gave her what we had and are currently thawing out our backup stash to make sure she gets exactly what she needs.
Since Missouri gave us such a wild surprise, we are now wondering who else might be hiding a secret in the pasture and we have to get them palpated soon so we can make sure they get dried off with plenty of time.