Rachel and I just got back from a quick trip to Kentucky (visiting my ailing grandmother, but that's another tale)... anyway, about 8 days ago, one of their cows gave birth to twins. And one was abandoned. So my parents are nursing the young bull back to health and bottle-feeding him.
His name... Hamburger. (My father's idea.) So when we saw this sight, we had to take a picture.
Caption: Hamburger Under a heatlamp
His name... Hamburger. (My father's idea.) So when we saw this sight, we had to take a picture.
Caption: Hamburger Under a heatlamp
You'll notice in this picture that he has an ear-tag... Number 32. Yes. I think that's how many ounces of hamburger he will be...
My mother tried to fight the name "Hamburger". She even tried calling him Stanley. We just called him Stanley Burger after that. It was a battle she wasn't going to win.
Apparently, Hamburger is one of those rare twins. I forget the exact name my father called it... but his sister and he shared an embryonic blood-flow. So she's not a, ahem, full female (she has testosterone in her system) and he's not a fully-fertile male either. He'll produce, at best, %60 fertility.
How did he get abandoned? After birthing them both, the mother put one calf at each end of the field. And we think she just forgot about Hamburger. For about a day, my parents thought one of the other cows adopted him. They fed him once at least. But when my father went out to the field the next day and he failed to get up, that's when we knew he was in trouble.
As of when we left them, they were slowly trying to wean him off the bottle. Between feeding times, they fed him hand-fulls of feed to get him used to eating it, and to help his intestines develop. Everyday, Hamburger gets stronger. And hopefully he'll be able to rejoin the group soon.
As for if he can be a pet? No. If he were a cow, that might be possible. And even though his breed doesn't get horns... he still gets horny. And mean. So unfortunately, Hamburger could still wind up on a bun.
Apparently, Hamburger is one of those rare twins. I forget the exact name my father called it... but his sister and he shared an embryonic blood-flow. So she's not a, ahem, full female (she has testosterone in her system) and he's not a fully-fertile male either. He'll produce, at best, %60 fertility.
How did he get abandoned? After birthing them both, the mother put one calf at each end of the field. And we think she just forgot about Hamburger. For about a day, my parents thought one of the other cows adopted him. They fed him once at least. But when my father went out to the field the next day and he failed to get up, that's when we knew he was in trouble.
As of when we left them, they were slowly trying to wean him off the bottle. Between feeding times, they fed him hand-fulls of feed to get him used to eating it, and to help his intestines develop. Everyday, Hamburger gets stronger. And hopefully he'll be able to rejoin the group soon.
As for if he can be a pet? No. If he were a cow, that might be possible. And even though his breed doesn't get horns... he still gets horny. And mean. So unfortunately, Hamburger could still wind up on a bun.
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