It's Here.

January that is. The snow has blown in along with sub zero temps. Our cows don't mind the cold. They actually stay pretty warm in the barns. This week was the first time the manure in the barns froze solid. The calves are usually the ones with problems. So far our calves have dealt with the cold pretty well. We've had a few newborns in the last week, but our new maternity barn gives us a nice place to let them dry off before we have to move them outside. We've had one staying in the maternity barn the last few days since it's been so cold.

A few years ago we had a lot of trouble with calves. It seemed like they were fine, then they'd go off feed, we'd try everything, and they'd die. What was happening was they were actually starving to death and we didn't know it. They just weren't getting enough calories from the milk replacer they were on. Adding more milk replacer added more protein, but that just gave them scours (diarrhea). When we finally figured it out, we started adding an energy supplement when the temps dipped below freezing. We haven't had a problem since. Working with animals is kind of like working with babies. They can't tell you what is wrong. The difference is there are a lot more diagnostic tools for humans than animals. But we don't give up even when we are stumped.