Soule: Teaching Calves About People

The bellowing stopped as I walked across the barnyard. Thirteen calves watched me open the gate to let the mother cows into the holding pen, a space I think of as the nursery. As the cows entered, each calf ran to its mother and latched onto her udder. Soon, the air was filled with the slurping, sucking music of nursing calves. Well, it's music to a farmer, anyway. Why do we keep the mothers and babies separate? It's all about training the calves.

It's far easier to train cattle when they are babies. Most of my calves are too young to be permanently separated from Mom, so the calves live together in the nursery. Then twice a day, I let their mothers join them for nursing. The calves stay healthy on their mothers' milk, but they become acclimated to people the rest of the time. Well, me anyway.

The good news is that the mother cows have already taught them a lot. They've learned about personal space, that hay and grass are for eating, and that love starts with licking. (The human substitute is brushing.) But the mothers can't teach them about human interaction. That's my job.
Each calf in the nursery is outfitted with a halter and an attached rope that drags behind. When I let the mothers into the nursery, sometimes a calf latches onto the wrong cow. When that happens, I'll take the halter rope and lead the calf to the correct udder. After a few sessions, the calves and cows figure out what to do, and the process is seamless. I call it the milking-of-the-cows without the hassle.

Why do I make an effort to do this?

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Carole Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm in Loudon, where she raises and sells beef, pork, lamb, eggs and other local products. She can be reached at carolesoule60@gmail.com.