Jasper...

We are an animal menagerie. First the squirrel and now a calf.

Once in a while momma cows won't claim a baby. The farmer can try several ways to try and rejoin the pair, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Much like the human world the animal world has it's deadbeat parents too. However, unlike the real world, in the cow world Mom now has a big red X on her and she will likely be culled (cut) from the herd. She will likely become a delicious quarter pounder at McDonald's.

Such is life - on the farm.

Meet Jasper. Jasper is a black Angus crossbred. His mom didn't claim him, so guess who gets to feed him and take care of him. Hint: It's not me. He lives a little too far away for daily care.

I got to meet Jasper last weekend while I was home visiting. He is not very old, and grandma gave him his name. Most times grandma changes a name a few times until one sticks, but this one was a first go.

Jasper gets a bottle twice a day. It's filled with formula-like milk replacement. He'll eat this until he's old enough to just eat grain and hay - although he has been introduced to a little bit of grain, about a handful a day.

Grandma usually feeds him every day and he'll follow people around and try to get attention. He can be a handful, but pretty fun to have around.

We've had bottle calves around my entire life. It seems every season we have at least one we have to feed with a bottle until they're old enough to kick out with the rest of the herd until it's time to sell them. The first bottle calf  I remember was Curly. I remember going out with grandpa to feed him. We called him Curly because he was a purebred polled Hereford and his white face had curly hair on top. We had an older cow in our herd growing up named Babe, and she was a bottle fed calf grandpa had. I didn't remember her as a calf, but she would walk right up to you when you were in the lot and want to be scratched. Much like a show animal, but she never did see the ring.

Jasper has his own little pen, his own water and little feed box. He has enough room to wonder around and a shade tree to keep out of the sun.

Mom gave him a little Sweet Mix here. It's just to give him a taste of grain. It's got some corn, oats and supplement pellets covered in a molasses mix. It smells great, and apparently tastes pretty good too.