Calving Week 1. Weather Drama. 

#calving #farmlife #cattle
March 2024 came in like a Lion! On a nice day we can check cows every 4 hours if nothing is going on. At -15C we up our checks to 2 hours unless it is windy then we check every 1.5 hours. Colder than -20C we need to check every hour to ensure we don't miss any babies being born.
Our barn is not heated but provides excellent shelter and has fresh straw bedding for calves to curl up in. If a calf seems chilled up or we are struggling getting the mom in we put the calf into the shed under the furnace to dry off and warm up.
We don't like to keep mom and baby separated for too long and reunite them as soon as we think the time is right. If time is prolonged we give the calf a bottle of colostrum to kick start the antibodies that come from the first milk.
Thanks for watching. See you next time.
Annette