Where the calves live! Beautiful new calf barn!

Thank you for viewing my video. This is a very nice barn, and the calves are extremely healthy, clean and comfortable. These are dairy calves, NOT VEAL. Some day, they will grow to be beautiful bovines, and produce safe, healthy and affordable milk for the world. My family cares deeply for our calves, and it is the most sacred responsibility on our dairy farm. I am a fifth generation dairy farmer and have cared for calves since I was 8 years old and take pride in caring for my calves. I also have a bachelors degree in Animal Science with a Dairy Emphasis.

Most calves are raised in individual pens for the first few months of their lives. We keep them separated for that short time to keep them healthy. This period is the MOST IMPORTANT time of their lives. They are fed a nurtritious diet and monitored by the farm calf manager and the herd veterinarian daily. Towards the end of 60 days, the calves naturally start eating a grain/molasses/mix "starter". Also during this time, the calves begin drinking more water, and less milk. At 60 days, the calves are moved into group pens -- ideally with 8-10 of their buddies. I understand why some may be concerned about keeping them separated from their friends, but it is truly for a short period of time when their immune systems are at the lowest. Do you take your newborn into an area where people may be sick? Or do you keep it isolated for a bit?

Social interaction with calves and cows is an area heavily researched. It is very important to mimize any type of social stress. For example, that little calf will stay with her same group of "buddies" for most of her life on a lot of dairy farms.

Please be respectful posting, or I have the right to remove posts. I am sure that you have questions -- I will promise to be 100% honest -- please ask. :) I would love to have a conversation about my calves.

[eeyeiser]

These calves are healthy and clean. Just the way babies should be! Thank you for caring for them all so well!

[mbliss]

What an awesome calf barn! Very clean, well managed, well planned and just a great place to raise baby calves. It's very obvious that these babies are healthy and well cared for too. Just like humans, it all starts at a young age - the healthier we can keep our animals as babies, the longer and healthier a life we can live. These animals are clearly in good hands and getting off to a great start! Thanks again for sharing.

[Rhonda]

God bless you for the humane way you raise your dairy cows. I wish more people were as kind hearted as yourself & your crew. Thanks. Oh, almost forgot. What do you do with your males? ... Be Well, ... Rhonda

[Theyoungrepper]

to all you people out there attacking with mean comments. you don't know how much people go thru to keep their farms going and the calves are perfectly fine. NO HARM DONE.

[Itoruna]

As long as they're getting real milk everything's fine

[frommootoyou]

What a great calf barn, so clean! This barn would sure be nice for winter, for both the calves and the people caring for them!

[paulsheehan]

great set up. on our farm we take the calfs away from the mother an hour or two after being born, the cows just cleans the calf and we feed them from the first feeding.we find this reduces the stress for the cows. we keep the calves in indivdual pens like in the video for the first 10days. then we put them in groups of ten after that.

[kjhohmann]

Thanks for sharing your video and for explaining your story, you and your family clearly work very hard to care for your animals and provide wholesome high quality dairy products for consumers. Thank you.

[vrindabaxi]

Dear Ruby, p'haps you made a sincere effort to take care of ur calves & cows, but it is also true that calves can't be happy artificially, without their mother and company. The Lord has made them to run and frolic freely in the pasture and enjoy. Man has made his own life artificial by tearing himself away from nature, and also of other animals. Leave them d natural way, mom-child together, playing, grazing... u will c the difference.I'm sure if u love them, u'll certainly enjoy the change.

[EvaHaberlova]

I am happy to see you are good protect calfs,

[tmhwriter]

I'm not a vegetarian, and I eat butter. So, I'm not winning any Peta awards. But, I think it would be a more effective video if the announcer weren't trying so hard to sell an unnatural situation. It would be better if she said something like: "Look, you want beef and milk and butter? This is what we need to do to get it into your suburban grocery stores. While we do that, we want to be decent to the calves, but don't expect this to be some cow paradise where cows and their calves happily bond for life."

[youshouldallexpire]

Well, I've said it before and I will continue to say it. I would rather see cruelty to animals than people that are hungry. Although that in and of itself isn't cruelty. Our calves have never seen their mothers past their day of birth and noone can look at them and say they are abused or unhappy. They're as happy as can be. They frolic every evening before bed.

[IAA]

Some ppl does sadly not understand this.

[greenponski]

I have calves and also cows and i think that barn is very nice and there is lots of light. In my barn calves had larger space than yours, but i think that good too.
I'dont get peoples who say: That is terrible place to live with those calves! Because milk production is going to hell. It's almost impossible to keep calf with his mother longer than one day. Or maybe it's just in Finland! I don't know.

[stephm]

That is exactly how baby animals wish to be kept (as opposed to being able to trot around and socialize and play with one another).

[Nile]

They can not be happy since they are not let to live to their fully capabilities as Nussbaum would argue.

[paulywalnuts]

Looks like a fun life.. They get to eat, drink and shit in the same spot. I feel bad their separated from their mothers, it must cause stress on both sides..

[DCFelix]

They're in solitary confinement. They don't care what color buckets they have. Are they taken away from the cow at birth and left in these stalls for months? I've seen suckler calves kept together in Ireland and never realized until recently that on big farms they are isolated like this with no room to move around.

[kimt]

to be fair., i wish ALL dairy farmers would care about their cows and calves like you do. It may seem cruel to some to separate the calfs from the mother but if it is for their immune system, then there is a humane reason to.Just like if a human newborn needs special treatment in special care nursery or UV therapy for jaundice, they have to be separated from their mother for a while.

[arkoaauf]

Calves will be very happy with their mom's.