Cute Calves and Heifer Hugs

This is the cutest group of calves I’ve ever seen.

Seriously.

Home for the first time in a few months, I was doing my normal chores in the upper calf barn. All the calves in stalls had been born during my absence, and so it was my first time seeing them.

And oh my gosh are they cute.

I mean, look at this face!

And this one!

And these ones!

And this heifer looks like an aardvark but she’s still cute!

 Aardvark face. :D

I have never seen a barn full of such cute calves in a long time.

On another similar topic…

I was helping Grandpa put some round bales of hay into a pen up at our place today, and while the skidloader was (as usual) malfunctioning, I had some time with the heifers while Grandpa tinkered with the thing to get it working.

In the pen with me were two of my heifers, Crystal and Chaela, a heifer my little brother showed three heifers my cousins showed, and one heifer my sister showed. I felt like the Pied Piper of cows – I was standing near the gate with a semicircle of nearly two-year-old heifers surrounding me wanting to be pet.

Chaela, dear that she is – and so unlike her mother – boldly walked up to me, unlike the others who sort of moseyed over cautiously. Chaela was my baby when she was bottle-fed, and she wasn’t shy at all as she butted her (rather large) head up against my thigh, asking for pets.

Some cows that are really friendly will “hug” you, using their necks and heads to pull you into an embrace. I’m not sure if it’s a show of affection or a plea for attention, but either way, Chaela’s really talented at them. I couldn’t help but cuddle her…to the extent that you can cuddle a half-ton heifer.

My hands came away brown with grime and dirt, and I smell like cow (well, more so than usual), but times like these remind me that these girls are the reason why I like coming home from school. I never realize just how 

much I miss it until I’m home. 

Awww!