About 30 day campers got to meet a two-day old day calf last Thursday.

And each one was invited to take a turn feeding it.

Aged five through eight, the campers were members of the six-week long Campapalooza! Day Camp, presented by Goochland County Parks and Recreation and the Virginia Cooperative Extension 4-H.

Campapalooza! is the second of six day camp experiences offered this summer by Parks and Rec and the Extension Service.

“I’ve done that before,” said Ivy Flory after holding the formula for the calf.

But other campers had never seen such a young cow.

“It was the first time I ever fed a calf,” said Makaila Pryor.

The two-day old Holstein weighed about 100 lbs., said Erin Henley, who brought the animal to the camp from Alvis Farm.

“They can stand up about an hour after they’re born,” Henley told the campers.

At first they get about two quarts a day of a special formula and then they are switched to powdered milk. Gaining about two pounds a day, they begin sampling grain pellets after several weeks.

Henley described life on the dairy farm to the campers, saying the herd is milked three times a day, at 2 a.m., 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

When fully grown the animals will eat 50 pounds of food a day and will drink “a bathtub full of water,” she told the campers.

Campalooza! focused on a different theme each day, said Marketing and Special Events Coordinator Michele Swalin. Earlier in the week they had studied ocean life, dinosaurs and a bug’s life, with age appropriate activities and games to facilitate the learning process.

After their hands-on experience with the young calf Thursday morning, the campers were scheduled to spend the rest of the day in other farm-related activities, said Extension Agent Jocelyn Dailey.

“They will learn about beef and dairy products and get to touch and handle cotton, soybeans and corn,” said Dailey.

The Activity Series Summer Camp is offering four more sessions, each based at the Virginian Cooperative Extension Office and Goochland Sports Complex near the county administration building.

Next up is CSI: Goochland, July 12-15, which will focus on crime scene investigation.

Then is Creation Station, from July 26-29, an art-based four days with painting, sculpture and photography.

Forest Rangers will be next, from August 2-5, and will focus on nature hikes and plant and wildlife identification.

The series winds up with Flap Jack U, where campers will learn about health and nutrition while learning how to prepare food.

Forest Rangers is designed for the five-to-eight-year-old age group; the other three camps are for nine- through 12-year-olds.

Swalin said space is still available in some of the camps, which run Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The cost is $64 per camper.

To find out more about these camps and other summer options, contact the Goochland County Parks and Recreation Department at 804 556-5854 or visit www.co.goochland.va.us.

Photo by Ken Odor
Makaila Pryor takes a turn at feeding a two-day-old calf last week at Campapalooza!.