Dairy farm over the moon with calf's unique marking - Action News
Home WebMail Monday, November 11, 2024, 01:44 AM | Calgary | -0.5°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Ottawa

Dairy farm over the moon with calf's unique marking

Eclipsewas born with a white crescent moon-shaped mark on her forehead.Not only that, but she was born on Apr. 8, the same day as the historic total solar eclipse.

Eclipse the Holstein born April 8 with white crescent on forehead

Eclipse the calf is black and white with a crescent marking on her forehead.
Eclipse the Holstein calf was born on the same day as the total solar eclipse on a dairy farm in Kingston, Ont. (Laura Carey/Facebook)

An aptly named calf born nearKingston, Ont., is causingquite a stir due to her unusual markings.

Eclipsewas born with a white crescent moon-shaped mark on her forehead.Not only that, but she was born on Apr. 8, the same day a historic total solar eclipse briefly plunged the region into darkness.

Laura Carey owns Carey Farm with her husband Michael Carey.The dairy farm has been in Michael's family for four generations and has 150 cows,65 of them used for milking.

Carey was milking the cows when she first noticed the newborn calf's unique marking.

"I thought it was cool but I didn't really pay much attention until the next day when I got a better look at her and I thought, oh my gosh, look at the marking, it's like an eclipse," Carey told CBC.

Eclipse is a Holstein, the breed many people picture when they imagea dairy cow. They're often born with remarkable spots and markings, Carey said.

"Over the years we've had [markings] that look like hearts and ones that look like question marks," she said.

Photo took off on social media

On April 9, Careyposted a photo of Eclipse on Facebook. Shortly after, she received a message from a family member alerting her to the post's growing popularity.

"Soon enough it had 40 [shares] and then the vet shared it, and it went off from there," Carey said.

Eclipse was quite small for a Holstein calf, weighing in at around 32 kilograms. Most calvesare closer to 45 kilograms.

Carey's post describes Eclipse as "a tiny girl with a big attitude."

"Cows are no different from you and I," shesaid. "They come in all personality types."

Like the celestial event she's named after, Eclipse attracts attention, Carey said.

"We have another calf right now and she's laid back, Icould do anything to her. But Eclipse has got a little more spice to her."