Love is What Happens When you Meet These Two Calves

written by

Carole Soule

posted on

August 4, 2025

Ben finished eating and struggled against his halter to get to Jerry's bottle of milk formula. Ben butted my leg and grabbed a mouthful of my shirt.

If you'd like to be enchanted by these calves, Click Here to schedule a time to bottle-feed them.

Jerry+Ben_SM.jpg

We bottle feed them milk formula twice a day, and they’ll learn to work in a yoke as "working steers."

"I like trying new things. I want to be a vet but wasn't sure I'd like working with farm animals until I came to Miles Smith Farm Cow Camp," Camp counselor-in-training Rose DeFreitas recently told me.

Despite being stepped on, kicked, and getting dirty, Rose is training calves Ben and Jerry to work as a team. She yokes them up and teaches them to follow simple commands, such as "gee" (right) and "haw" (left).

"They're sweet, I love them, and they're the right size," Rose said. "I hope I can show them at the Sandwich Fair."

Ben and Jerry will continue to be bottle-fed until August 31. 

If you'd like to be enchanted by these calves, Click Here to schedule a time to bottle-feed them.

bottle feed calves

Bottle babies

More from the blog

How to Make Cow Friends And Alienate People

That's the thing about cattle: they are forgiving. I can bark at a steer at nine in the morning, and by 9:02 he's looking for a treat. Cattle don't hold grudges. They don't read tone. They don't lie awake replaying what you said to them by the water trough.

The Best Way to Draw Blood from a Cow

The internet assured me the easiest spot to draw blood was the tail. Cow number one proved it. I lifted her tail, slid in the needle, and — like magic — blood flowed into the tube. Easy peasy. I labeled my prize, feeling confident, while my team escorted the next victim into the chute.