I’ve assisted in two calvings this summer. The calves’ names must have the same first letter or combination of letters as their mother’s. This creates a linage you can follow back to the beginning of their line. The dairy barn is full of the mother, daughter, aunt, nieces, and cousin relationships. This extends into the calf barn. We had five calves born this summer. They are Rabbit, Rumphius, ChicKen, Calvin Klien, and Plum. Rumphius was born first and her mother is Ramen. Rabbit was born later and her mother is River and her grandmother is Ramen. This makes Rumphius Rabbit’s aunt. ChicKen is Candy Kane’s daughter and Coke Kola’s granddaughter. Calvin Klien is Coke Kola’s son. This makes Calvin ChicKen’s uncle.
It is amazing to watch as each generation grows. These little heifers will eventually take their place in the dairy alongside their family. Even though the calves are raised like people they seem to inherit some of their mother’s personalities. ChicKen not only looks very similar to her grandmother Coke but she also has the same sweet and friendly disposition.