Newborn Calf

• A calf is a young cow or bull 
• “The average Holstein calf weighs from 90 to 100 pounds at birth.” (VT)
• “Jersey calves average 60 pounds at birth, with a range in birth weight from 42 to 72 pounds” (US Jersey) 
• Young dairy calves are raised by the farmer to protect the calf from getting sick or hurt like they could if they were with older cows. Calves live in separate little houses called calf hutches- these are like bedrooms for the calves. Each calf hutch has a nice warm place for the calf to sleep and a door on the front for them to go outside when they want to.
• Calves spend around the first two months of their lives in calf hutches.
• The farmer feeds the calves milk replacer (like formula for calves) with a bottle or bucket 1-3 times a day, this means someone who works on the farm will see the calves multiple times a day. This helps make sure all the calves are healthy.
• Before the calves are moved into group housing, they will get shots and have their horns removed. This is done to protect the calf from getting sick or hurt, and to help keep other animals or people safe. The farmer will also make sure each animal is eating solid feed and has learned to drink water from a bucket.

6-month-old heifer

• A heifer is a young female bovine (cattle) that has not had a calf yet.
• “The six-month-old heifer is usually fed silage, hay, and grain. These heifers may also graze (eat grass) in a pasture. Holstein heifers weigh about 400 pounds at this age.” (VT)
• Jersey heifers at this age weigh between 259 and 321 lbs. (PSU)
• These heifers live in groups of similar ages and/or weights and may spend most of their time in a barn (inside) or in a pasture (outside). You might think of these groups like you think of your classes at school, you are all around the same age, so you are in the same class.

Yearling

• “This heifer is called a yearling because she is over one year old. The Holstein heifer weighs about 700 pounds and still has quite a bit of growing to do before she enters the milking herd in another year.” (VT)
• Yearling Jersey heifers weigh between 471 and 548 lbs. (PSU)
• Yearling heifers, like the 6-month-old heifers, are housed in groups and can be inside or outside at this age. Like the 6-month-olds they are checked on each time they are fed.
• Dairy heifers will be bred as yearlings to allow them to calve (have their baby) around two years old. Like humans, cows are pregnant for about 9 months.

2-year-old Cow

• A cow is a mature female bovine who has had a calf, the grown-up version of a heifer.
• “This cow is two years old and recently had a calf for the first time. She is now producing milk and will keep on growing for the next few years before she is fully mature. [Holsteins] weigh about 1,200 pounds.” (VT)
• Jersey 2-year-olds generally weigh around 790-893 lbs. (PSU)
• This is the first time the farmer can milk the cows they have been raising for the past two years
• “This adult [Holstein] cow weighs over 1,500 pounds. She is five years old and just had her fourth calf. She can eat over 100 pounds of feed a day and can produce over 12 gallons of milk a day.” (VT)
• “The average mature size for Jerseys is approximately 1,000 pounds.” (US Jersey)
• Mature cows live in large free stall barns in groups of mixed ages (2-5+ year old females). You can think about the free stall barn groups like a school- students who aren’t all the same age are all in the same school. Mature cows are milked at least twice a day. Some of the cows at the Ferguson Family Dairy get the chance to be milked more than twice a day because the robot milker lets them to decide when they want to be milked.