Delivering and Naming The First "Crypto" Calves at the County Fair - (First Steps Video Included)
Last week at our County Fair I had the opportunity to help deliver a couple of dairy calves. It was quite the experience and while I didn't document the actual birth.. because for one my hands were kind of full.. and well, I figured that would be a bit too much for some of you ;) I was able to grab my phone shortly after to grab a few shots as well as a short video.
One of the coolest parts of the experience was that while visiting with the owner she asked if I wanted to name the little guys. As they would be registered in the State of California and would be brought to the fair next year. She said in the past they let those who help with the birth have the honor of naming them... and well.. I couldn't turn down the opportunity for a bit of name recognition ...
So let me introduce you to the first ever Crypto Calves at the County Fair!
Bitcoin (Lil Bit)
STEEM (Steemie)
The owner thought it was quite comical and we did pick out some nicknames to make them a bit easier to call out, but yes... STEEM will be represented at the County Fair next year. Pretty cool right?
It did start a conversation of crypto in general with the few people there, which was exactly the point. We ended up having a good chat as well as exchanging information so I could answer more questions along the way.
This first time Mom didn't seem to mind the name, and both Momma's and Babes were doing great.
This is an ongoing project at our local fair, in fact I remember hanging around the area as a kid just fascinated by watching new life.
The expecting Mama's are brought in and are monitored by vets 24/7 as well as having open access to anyone who wants to come and have an up close experience with the animals. It's pretty amazing to watch small children's eyes light up when they get to touch the calves, as well as watch them take their first steps and first suckle of Mama's milk.
After getting all cleaned up by Mama, and taking a little rest, STEEM (Steemie) was ready to try his hand at walking and attempting to do his first feeding. It took him awhile to get the hang of it, but I was able to capture a quick video.
As someone who has grown up around animals and delivered many, this still never gets old. There is something awe inspiring about animals, and watching the interaction between them. There is also something about the bond of those animals and the humans that help raise, nurture and take care of them from birth. A bond many probably don't understand, but it is there all the same.
So while many celebrities are calling for the end of the cattle industry, I recommend more individuals go out and meet the folks raising cattle.. because while there are some bad players out there, especially in the large and industrial facilities, most cattle ranchers don't take the responsibility lightly and those animals are more than just animals to them, they are family.
Know your farmers, your ranchers, shop local ... and take a moment to know where your food comes from - as what you support is what you get.
Steps off soap box.
Also, who knows.. maybe we will see STEEM or Bitcoin as the Grand Champion at next year's County Fair.. how is that for a good stunt? ;)
Much Love and Steem On,
Justine
Im going to be first to say, crypto to the mooooooooon
thank goodness, as I was hoping someone would! 😜
I love cows, as a kid on my grandparents farm I spent hours sat with the calves letting them suckle on my three middle fingers (as they have a gap in their bottom row of teeth so they don't bite mamma!) and stroking them. Beautiful eyes and generally docile and gentle creatures .
Hmmm did that read a little bit dubiously ? If so, Tell me and I'll edit it to a more simple "I like cows, I do"
Great post , I love country fairs , my Mum is a champion jam maker!
Hope life is treating you kindly
Lol! No it was great and gave me a lovely visual. I did the same as a kid 😉 They have the most amazing eyes! And yes such personalities come through, which I always enjoyed observing.
Fairs are the best! And man oh man you lucky kid! Homemade jam is amazing 😋
Loved the idea to name them. So every one in the town hearing and ask the owners "what's steem means 😂". Nice idea for steem promotion.
I am from India, we loves and respect cows here. Absolutely people should stop buying diary from industry and connect directly with farmers/ranchers. Here cows are part of farmer's family and never sell them. Loved the photos of both mama and calf.
Dear @hungryharish, I'm also from the same country. But I see all those words like cows being part of farmer's family or gau-mata etc. as empty words. No where the life and liberty of these animals is respected in the country. Today India is one of the largest beef exporter, milk producing (and consuming) and leather producing country in the world.
Cows are enslaved & tortured all their lives, artificially impregnated and milked in captivity. Male calves are still slaughtered. Prevalent Hindutva philosophy of India has successfully implemented ban on slaughter of cows in most of the Indian states. But it's funny that Hinduism is not against dairy consumption. People don't get that you can't get dairy without slaughtering these animals.
The strict ban on slaughter has resulted in the increased number of stray cows on the road. No one wants to feed and take care of unproductive animals. These stray animals lead to increased road accidents. India is also the world leader in terms of number of traffic accidents and road fatalities.
The situation has worsened to the extent that many States don't know how to handle these stray animals. Gaushalas are already overburdened. Resources in the country are insufficient to provide the required fodder to growing number of animals. People have started protests against this in UP, Punjab etc..
In fact, Hindu fundamentalists in Punjab are now actually advocating slaughter of cow. Read more about it here:
https://steemit.com/steempress/@chetanpadliya/1fj4axo8at
This is partial truth. In my city the cows roam on roads and all the shop keepers feed them before they start businesses. Do you think , if there is no dairy consumption...cows will be in to extinction. As I am said in above comment, the torturing of cows done in industries and where they kept in huge number for dairy.
The farmers are best and they take care cows passionately. The thing you have said for leather is mostly from north India, in South we don't encourage this. As much as for hindutva, cows are considered as mother because the children after mother's milk raised by cows/buffalo's milk. That's an association between the cows and people.
Also it's depend on individual, can't generalized.
Do you know what happened to horses in Britain after introduction of motor vehicles? All the horses are abandoned on roads and most of them starve till death.
Religion aside, the this a business and I advocate for fair,compassion and good treatment for the cows rather than seeming as products/milk machines.
Exactly! People will get curious and start looking 😉
Thank you and I agree, animals here have always been part of the family as well ❤️
steemie pastrami on rye, lil bit of pickle and mustard, nice!
😂 leave it to you to try to eat the adorable creatures...
goes to the kitchen in search of a pastrami sandwich.
Very cool Justine...I'm a little miffed that you didn't send me an invite for the county fair though - I'm sure I'll get over it at some stage but for now...Imagine a frowning me.
So, I'm off culling ferrals [Kangaroo's, deer and foxes] Thursday, on a cattle farm where I normally do so every couple of weeks. So looking forward to getting away from the city and out into the country. The cattle are funny, they follow me around a bit. Sometimes I set up a snipers hide and just wait for opportunities. I look up ten minutes later and am surrounded by 50 bloody cows. They don't move when I start shooting either...Just sort of mill around. I imagine them communicating saying things like good shot bro and haha, ya missed ya bastard!
Anyway...Hmm, if only I went to a country fair lately...
I sent you an invite, in the mail. You didn’t get it?
The visual of you in a tree with the cows just made my day. Cows are hilarious.. they cheer me on too in my day to day 😜
Damn the mail service!
Yeah, cows are funny...Sometimes look grumpy but just big softy's. (Bit like me).
This made me so happy just now :D
❤️🤗 they are so cute, I need to go back to see them.
Yeah and I bet people will milk the fuck out of Steemie in the coming years as well
Probably will go to slaughter right away just as almost all calves do so they can keep impregnating mother so she keeps producing milk.
Yeah that would be the shitty commercial farms I was speaking of 🙂 I know these ranchers and these babies will be shown at next years fair, as I said.
Milking an animal is always of commercial interest. Whether it's the industrial farms or these ranchers, animals finally end up in slaughter houses.
Seems both these calves you helped in bringing them into existence are female calves. So they might live a few years until they could be milked productively before they get slaughtered. But what if these were male calves?
I wonder why humans want to suck animals' milk!
As I said.. no matter their sex they will be at the county fair next year. Let’s not speak so confidently in things we clearly don’t understand 😉
Yeah, I concur. But what I speak is what I observe here in my country. Things may be a little different where you're.
When we say they go to fair, it means they will be traded for money there. Here begins the objectification of life when we put some monetary tag to it. It's very similar to what happened during human slavery when slaves were traded in fair.
In fair, the buyer of cow will definitely use it for milking or else why one would pay for it! If it's an ox, it was already castrated and was not let to become a bull, the way nature intended. Ox are generally used for tilling land or in transportation as draught animal and are retired to slaughter house when they get old or less productive.
Bulls of good breed may be used to collect semen and they retire as early as 10 years of age ...again to slaughter houses. Of course, there are entertainment events like bull-fighting in Spain where John McAfee recently went. A similar event called Jallikattu (and some more) takes place in Southern India too (though bulls ain't murdered in those events).
But you're right, I shouldn't be very confident until I know who purchased these calves at fair and for what purpose. But tbh, there are less than 1% chance, if any, that someone will buy it and offer them a free natural life without exploiting them for any human advantage.
Frankly, I don't know why I'm writing all these here. I understand that nothing is new to you in these lines and I never intended to leave any comment to this post but somehow this comment thread incited me to share a piece of my mind. Sorry about it!
🤣 I mean... why would they stop now, right? poor Steemie.
In my time spent in California I was able witness a few calves being birthed. I didn’t get up close and personal like you but I was across the street building Powerlines to the new dairy. Mama must have had a little tough time because the farmer came along with his 4-wheeler and tied a chain around the calf’s feet and popped the little guy outta there. I’ve seen several calves “hangin’ out” when working around those dairies in central CA
Oh ya, great names BTW. What a great experience for kids and adults alike. How cool!!
Posted using Partiko iOS
Yes I’ve actually witnessed that as well 😬 Sometimes they need some help.. but watching those types of births were always tough.
Thanks!
Fantastic names😂 @justineh. Really. The idea of naming them that way is awesome 🌟 well-done. I believe this would go a long way
Thank you!
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