So just after lunch the clouds parted and it got beautiful outside. So, taking advantage of the beautiful weather my wife and I headed out to feed the animals and bed the barn. We got a lot of rain yesterday and the night before and even though I had just cleaned the barn and bedded a few days ago it was still a mess. Plus the snow and ice is still melting and with all the frost in the ground still it is just running off the top and soaking everything!
While we were out and everyone was just being lazy and enjoying the sun we decided to tag the new calves before I get too many and mix them up. First was our first calf of 2015, Fuzzy Wuzzy. She lost a large portion of her ears to frostbite and they are finally starting to heal. Since we now know what she has left we went ahead and gave her a tag. She is so tame it is unbelievable. You can walk right up and pet her and she doesn't mind at all. She is growing very fast and will probably pass Baby girl in size within a month or so.
Next was Kwanan's little girl. She is doing much better now that the weather has started to warm up. She is not as docile as Fuzzy is but is not as flighty as her mother either.
This is calf #6. She is Chilly's little girl and was born last night. She is tiny but healthy. We are going to wait to tag her till we are sure she is good to go.
Sally had her calf on Wednesday but I didn't get a good picture of him today. He is a big bull! He is doing very well. His mother gave me quite a scare when she came down with Milk Fever (hypocalcemea) shortly after birthing. A calcium IV got her up and running quickly and she is good to go now.
I had two other calves born last week. Both were born outside before the snow melted and the temps were very cold. I lost both of them to hypothermia. We tried hard but there was nothing we could do till the weather broke. I will be making changes this year for breeding. I will not be letting any cows get bred to have calves before March 15th next year. I never had to deal with this before but running the bull with the cows 24/7 he has managed to shave a month or so off of most everyone's cycle every year till they are now having them really early. I have another 8 calves due this month and all but 2 of 20 calves are due before May 1st this year.
Hoping this weather stays warm and sunny!! I need it.
Kenny
