Jenny Yes, I know that was the title of my last blog post but this time it very purposely lacks an exclamation point. I wrote the last one at the onset of calving season as a few babies had just been born and excitement was in the air. As the season has progressed, we have encountered a number of problems which has caused our enthusiasm to wane just a bit. This isn’t our first rodeo but it has definitely been our biggest as we are in the process of growing our herd. We know it will get easier as we continue to pick and choose which cows make the best mamas but we also know there will always be problems this time of the year. Such is the life of a cattle farmer.
Mothers rejecting babies has been our plague this season. We eventually stopped fighting them and realized it would be easier to separate the struggling babies from the herd and make a little calve nursery in the stable. Some unusually cold weather and threats of tornados and coyotes encouraged us as well. When everyone else was hunkered down in their basements waiting for the storm, Daniel was loading up a truck bed full of calves to transport to shelter. Sometimes you just do what you have to do!
They are now happily growing and will one day be able to rejoin the rest of the herd. Bottle feeding will be in our past and we might even miss it a little bit…or maybe not!
