A young Brown Swiss cow snuggles in the straw in a calf hut at the Wells Fargo Family Farm.

The Brown Swiss heifer arrived at the Wells Fargo Family Farm only two hours prior. She’s asleep after the intense experience of labor and delivery. Dark-lashed eyes closed. Black muzzle nestled between her legs. Her light-buff coloration nearly camouflages her in a bed of straw. Farm Keeper Gail Roubinek keeps close watch over the half-hidden baby. She ensures the heifer feeds every two to four hours in these first 24 hours of life and receives the “liquid gold” colostrum, the mother’s early milk that is packed with nutrients and antibodies. It provides the calf critical protection from bacteria and viruses.

Spring is the season of rebirth on the farm, and a newborn’s first 24 hours are a time of great expectations and exploration. From birth to nursing to wobbly walking to their checkup with the vets, livestock babies accomplish much during day number one.

Eat, Sleep, Repeat

Like a human newborn, farm babies nurse and sleep a lot. In this first delicate stage of life, they are kept away from the adult herd to reduce exposure to germs and possible injury.

Goats and lambs stand within an hour of birth and are looking to nurse right away, Roubinek says. She and Farm Keepers monitor babies to ensure they nurse frequently and ingest colostrum.

Roubinek says they also check the mom’s udder. If it’s overly plump and engorged, that’s a sign the baby isn’t taking in enough milk, and they might need to offer bottle feeding.

Staff can also assess if babies are eating well by weighing them at birth and regularly after that. Given the large number of littermates, a piglet might be weighed daily to ensure it is getting access to the sow’s udder.

“Milk is all that the babies need,” Roubinek says. “Not water. Just the thick, syrup-like colostrum, then the milk that follows.”

Can nannies and ewes manage twins and triplets? They’re to be expected with goats and sheep, Roubinek says, and there’s plenty of milk to feed them all at the same time. While first-time moms are most likely to have singletons, this year, two first-time goat moms had multiples.

“I credit the positive energy and care they get here,” she says.

The mother-baby bond is forged through close contact.

“Moms hover over babies,” Roubinek says. “She knows them by smell and will only stand still for her own to nurse.”

A Shetland Sheep ewe tends to her twin lambs.

Dairy calves are bottle fed by Farm Keepers to ensure they receive adequate colostrum and avoid problems latching on or getting an overwhelming amount of milk from the mother. After birth, the mother is milked in the parlor and staff check the antibody level of the colostrum using a tool called a colostrometer. If levels are too low, Keepers will supplement with colostrum collected from other cows and kept in deep freeze. The quality and quantity of colostrum—and how quickly the calf receives it—is essential for growth and the lifelong health of the animal.

Vet Check

Farm babies receive a neonate exam from Zoo veterinarians within the first 24 hours. Like a human newborn, they’re weighed and examined for physical health and any issues.

“One thing they check for is cleft palate because that would greatly affect the baby’s ability to nurse,” Roubinek says.

Vets take the baby’s temperature, heart rate, and respiration. Blood is drawn and tested for immunity. Male calves, kids, and lambs are castrated and those with horns are disbudded, which are customary farm practices to prevent injuries to people and animals.

Keepers file an acquisition report that has much of the same information you’d find in a human infant’s birth certificate: date of birth, dam, sire, type of birth (single or multiple), sex, color, markings, and distinguishing features. Just like the wild animals at the Zoo, farm babies are entered into a database called ZIMS (Zoological Information Management System). This global database has records for more than 10 million animals and is used to support wildlife conservation and guide breeding programs for genetic diversity of species.

Baby Steps

A big distinction between relatively helpless humans and hardy livestock: farm babies are on their feet within the first few hours of life.

Twin goat kids are on their feet and walking within a few hours of their birth.

“It only takes three to four tries to stand, and they’re up and about after that,” Roubinek says.

When they’re about two weeks old, kids and lambs will venture away from the safety of their moms and mingle with the herd. Their worlds get bigger and broader as they explore the yard and contend with the social structure of their herd.

“They will learn quickly which adults want to play, which ones are their friends… and who isn’t,” Roubinek says.

They butt heads. Hassle their siblings. Sleep in the sun. They run, race, roughhouse, and return to mom for refreshments.

Farm babies grow strong and sturdy—due in no small part to the care and attention given in their first 24 hours on the farm.