Meet Freddy

05/23/2024
By: Wendy Millet

Part of our ethos at TomKat Ranch is to maintain the highest standards for animal welfare. Our certifications with American Grassfed Association (AGA) and their Animal Health and Welfare standards are focused on animal health, safety and welfare from an animal’s birth to the end of their life. The standards include four pillars of welfare: animals should be free from hunger and thirst; their discomfort should be mitigated; pain, injury, and disease will be treated; and animals have the freedom to express their normal natural behavior. We are also proponents of Low-stress Livestock Handling methods and feel strongly they should be an essential aspect of animal welfare. ​

Given all that, in 2013, when we got a call from a local landowner Kate Hass at Echo Valley Farm telling us that her dairy cow had a male calf in need of a new home, we said, “bring him around, we’ll fit him in.”  Fred, a Jersey cow, named after Kate’s dad, was about six months old when he arrived at the ranch. He immediately joined “Emily,” a TomKat calf whose mom, as sometimes happens, was not interested in nursing her.

The staff joined forces as a surrogate family for baby “Emily” taking turns every four hours to bottle feed her. Though it was touch and go for a few weeks, she emerged, smaller than most, as a perfect buddy for our new friend “Freddy”. The two cows spent several years together until Emily surprised us with a calf of her own and was moved into a herd with other mamma and baby cows.

The animal welfare standards set by our AGA certification require that herd animals never be left by themselves, so Freddy’s new role became “companion” for any new or injured animals or any who couldn’t be left alone. Freddy also plays the key role of friend to any human visitors eager to pat a cow. (most cows aren’t so tame!)

Last week, Kate, Fred’s original owner, stopped by the ranch for a visit. She is now the owner of the Loma Mar Store, a restored post office and community destination for excellent food, music and healthy fare. As timing would have it, when Kate arrived, Freddy was grazing along the driveway enjoying the lush spring grasses accompanied by two new bulls who are his current pasture mates. Kate was smiling from ear to ear that Freddy was not only alive after so many years but also busy with a job!

We are grateful to all of our animals at the ranch, but this article is a special shout-out to Freddy (and Kate) for the friendship and calming energy they have brought to TomKat Ranch. Fred continues to be an important member of our family and one very cute cow  😃