So I married a farmer...: this week on the farm... calving

Old MacDonalds Kid's have gone to university and they're home running the farm now, so it is large, it's more specialized, they use technology, but you know what? They still operate it with the same care, commitment and values their Grandparents did - Crystal Mackay

{this week on the farm...}

We starting calving on Jan 28, which is pretty good, since we aim for February 1st, sometimes by February 1st we have 5 calves already. We have had a really good run with very few birthing interventions and only losing 1 calf so far.

Our cows live outside year round, they are tough and as long as they have enough fresh water and quality feed they do fine. February has the tendency to be very cold here on the Canadian prairies, our biggest concern this time of year is keeping the cattle fed, water bowls from freezing and getting the new calves off to a good start. We try to get the mommas down into the valley a few days before they give birth, our valley provides natural shelter from the wind. Down there we have a 3 sided barn with fresh straw, and a small enclosed barn where we can put newborn/problem calves on really cold nights.

This past week we have had some wonky weather here, the temp keep going up and down (-5C to -30C) which means we have had tons of wind and it has been snowing a lot. Historically cattle farmer say more births happen during storms (wind/snow), this week we had 30 births which is high, we usually average 2-3 a day. Ben's routine during calving is crazy, he checks cows every 4 hours all day long, he usually checks at 11pm or midnight, then sleeps on the couch until 3am checks again, then sleeps until 7:30am when we get up. If a cow is about to give birth, he will either wait or come in and warm up. Often after an hour or so he can tell if the birth is going well or if it needs intervention. If he didn't intervene we would lose more calves and mommas. Even with Ben's and some vet intervention we do still lose a few calves.

I bought some real chore clothes so I could help out awhile my in-laws are on vacation.

I get to drive once and awhile!

Blowing baled straw into the barn

One of my biggest pet peeves with Children's books about farms is that the authors consistently get straw and hay mixed up, or they assume that they are inter changeable...they are not.

Straw: most cows sleep on straw. After we harvest our wheat or barley we bale up the stalk and use them to bed the cows in winter.

Hay: perennial grass that is cut and baled mid-summer, stored and fed in winter.

Silage: barley, corn or oats cut just before maturity, baled or chopped, then packed and wrapped with plastic to ferment. Silage is fed in winter.

Grain screenings: When wheat, barley, oats or corn is cleaned for food or seed all the waste product is sold to animal producers who feed this grain to their animals, high in energy

Mineral: animal vitamins!

What we feed our cows changes all year long, they are fed high nutrient diets during breeding and after calving. The aim is to feed the appropriate nutrient, energy and protein balanced ration to meet their needs.

These are our heifers, they are our females born last year, we will keep the best ones and put the bull with them in spring. If they breed, we keep them, if they don't we sell them.