With it being Mother’s Day it makes me think of the mothering instinct and how animal mothers are as unique and different as human mothers.
While all animal moms are attentive, loving and protective they all have their unique style.
Alice is a helicopter mom who never loses sight of her calf and hardly ever leaves her calf with Lumpy (our donkey) for babysitting.
Larissa constantly communicates with her calf knowing where it is at all times and would never think of leaving her calf with Lumpy.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Xavy who is so laid back she is negligent at times. She will wander off and not pay any attention to whether her calf is following her or not. Time passes and she’s doing her own thing and then you can see she panics, suddenly remembering she has a calf and doesn’t know where it is. She sends out the 911moo call and acts as though her calf has been missing for weeks. It makes us laugh every. single. time.
Hazel the sow is an ultra protective pig mom and we are extra careful to respect her space when farrowing and for the first couple of weeks.
Duchess on the other hand is a much more laid back pig momma and doesn’t mind us in with her and her piglets. Pigs are different than cows in the way that they share mothering responsibilities. When sows and piglets are housed together quite often the piglets nurse off of whatever sow if offering whereas cows typically don’t let other calves nurse from them.
Regardless of what type of mother you had I hope you have fond memories of her and if you’re a mom I hope you had a great day today.