What a wonderful experience it is to watch a baby miniature Jersey calf take its first fe
w steps and get its first meal. They are so happy and cute that, at least here at Mini Miracles Farm, we just can’t help but walk around with gigantic smiles all the time. We especially enjoy watching the young calves throw their tails in the air and take off across the pasture on bright sunny mornings. Our newest heifer, Miracle Faline, literally curls her tail up over her back when she runs – just too cute.
All of our animals are registered and soon after birth we start trying to think of names for our little ones. When considering names for registered miniature Jerseys it’s important to remember that there are actual naming rules or conventions. Each breeder gets to choose a unique name or identifier (often initials) that identifies their breeding operation, and this identifier precedes the given name of the calf. For instance, at Mini Miracles Farm, the word Miracle precedes the name of each animal born here. The rule is that the breeder identification belongs to the owner of the cow when the cow was bred. So, if someone purchases a cow from us that is bred, the calf would have the word Miracle as the first part of its name because it is the result of our breeding program. Likewise, if we purchased a bred cow from someone else, then the resulting calf would have that breeder’s identifier in the name and not ours.
You’ll notice this naming convention in practice at Mini Miracles Farm. All of our older cows and both bulls were purchased from other breeders and they have names like South House Dapper Dan, DC Ebenezer, TGF Spice, BTTF Bree, RNC Miss Ruthie, TRRH Ruby, etc. In the case of all of the animals listed above, the first name(s) or initials identify the breeder of the cow. These names are not changed when the animal is purchased, as registered names should not be changed or it would be very difficult to track bloodlines, which is the whole purpose of registering animals in the first place.
So, when you are considering names for your cute little calves, remember that you need to include the breeder’s identification in the name of your calf when it is registered if you did not own the cow when she was bred. Also remember that the name will go with the animal for the rest of its life – so naming an adorable baby bull Twinkle Toes may seem cute, but he’s likely to outgrow that name relatively quickly.
Enjoy your calves, it won’t be long before they are full grown and having calves of their own.