Baby photos, then and now

Just for fun, compare the photo of brand-new little Ruby next to Bessie back in July, and the current photo of Ruby.  Only 3 months of growth, and you'd never know she was the same calf! Then there's the photo of a very young Ruby next to an almost grown Lucy, and almost the same pose 3 months later.  I had no idea that a calf would grow so quickly.  The boys still think that we will never sell Ruby.  I can't see keeping her, although I am very fond of her.  With Bessie and Lucy side-by-side in the barn room, it feels like our farm will not be able to handle 2 full-grown cows, EVER!  Ruby will be as big as Lucy in a year, and Bessie should have another calf by then.  Doesn't make sense to sell the milk-supply (Bessie) in favor of keeping the calf (Ruby) who would need to be bred and pregnant and deliver a calf before any milk would be produced by her.  That's 18 months from now.  Somehow, if we ever sell Bessie, we'll need another cow that is already producing milk to take her place.  Not sure how that would happen with Ruby, or any calf that would have been Bessie's baby..... She sure is beautiful, though, isn't she?  She will trot right over when she sees me at the gate, or follows us around the pasture.  She lifts her face to sniff my hair when I bring the bucket of grain in and give her a little to eat in her stall.  She also snuffs into my face--kind of gross, but maybe it's a cow's way of showing acceptance (just short of affection?)  Her acceptance of people and her curiosity is so different from Bessie and Lucy, who were not really handled or petted, but were raised for and milked (or would have been, in Lucy's case) in a small organic dairy.  Yeah, it would be hard to give her up.  Luckily we have a year to figure it out! Lucy's new owners will probably come for her in a couple of weeks, after her pregnancy is confirmed (or after she is re-bred, if she's not pregnant).  The barn will feel a little bit empty, but there will be a sense of relief, too, that there's only one full-grown cow left out there to pursuade with food (or a big stick!), cajole into doing what I need her to do, swat with the PVC to move her along, feed and then feed again, milk every morning or to step nimbly around when a huge bulk is threatening to run me over.  ;)  Even if it's a relief in some ways, I've been taking photos of Lucy so that we can't forget her.....and it could be Ruby next year.  We'll see. Laura http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/