Pet day writing

 About two weeks ago Awahono School had Pet day. Pet day sadly this year was not the same because of Covid because we couldn't bring our pets but we still got to show of our pets on our pet day projects and do some fun workshops around out pets and animals. For our projects we had to have three pieces of writing on it an information report, procedural writing, and a narrative. Today I will be showing you my information report on my pet calf Boris and calves in general. Hope you enjoy. 

Calves

Have you ever heard of a Belgian Blue calf? One that is so friendly and tame that they could easily be a dog? While I have because that is my pet Belgian Blue cross Friesian calf Boris. A.K.A the best pet calf in the world. By the end of this writing you should be informed on a Belgian Blues appearance, diet, and their habitat. 

Belgian Blue calves are a calf breed that has originated from Belgium and are such an interesting breed because of their amazing features. One of their features that will really catch your eye is their bulky muscle that is packed onto them which is called double muscling and the reason for this feature is because it is where they can lack a type of protein that can regulate muscle growth. If you were to see a Belgian Blue you would see the amazing colours of a bluey black colour and white that merge together and make an amazing coat of bluey blacks, whites, and greys. They can also have a red colour which is caused by adding other genes to it. To round it all off  they are so cute and fluffy and when you run your fingers through their fur it feels like a warm fluffy blanket that you could wrap yourself up into. 

A Belgian Blue’s diet can vary from a whole heap of different things. After a calf has just been born they will be fed around 4 litres of sweet warm day one colostrum milk, given in 2 feeds, the first consists of 2 litres within the first 6 hours of birth with the additional 2 litres given within 12 hours of birth. Then after that they will be fed colostrum milk every day for 4 days  with normal  whole fresh milk following the days after. My calf Boris starts off his morning by  getting about 5-6 litres of milk, this is something that every calf will get because milk is one of their main sources of food. Along with having his milk he gets given about two huge handfuls of meal which he shares with his mate Tank, and they will eat this amount over a period of one day. They get meal given to them when they are around two days old. This allows them to explore and become familiar with the food that they will be consuming when it is time to ween them. Giving them time to  try the meal will make it easier for them when that is their main source of food.  With Boris we gave it to him when he was about 2-3 weeks old  because we hadn’t gotten around to feeding it to him . The last thing that I give my calf Boris is grass which is one of his favourite sources of food to eat. I started to introduce grass to him when he was about 3-4 weeks old. He also gets given fresh water everyday which is a necessity for them. 

Lastly to wrap off this piece of writing you will get to know about their habitat and where they live throughout their life. The first place they start off their journey is a calf pen or any shed that has a type of bedding that calves can live on. Boris right now is still in a shed on a bed of sawdust because it is easier for me to access him and to get him outside I lead him around so he can eat the grass and stretch his legs. After the phase of them being in a shed they will start to get big and the space will be too small for them to live their life. Once this occurs you will need to move them outside into a paddock that is going to keep your calf  happy and free. They will then basically stay outside for the rest of their lives because that is just what their habitat mostly consists of. 

In conclusion, Belgian Blue calves are really cool and special animals that have such an amazing cute appearance, a simple diet that you can easily feed them, and a simple habitat that you are able to keep them in to help them live. So the next time you consider buying a calf remember my writing because honestly Belgian Blues are fantastic calves to have and make your day so much more enjoyable.