In the blackness of the early hours of a frigid January day, I tred down the snow-covered hill to the milkhouse and the barn.  My rubber snow boots crunch through the icy blanket.  Though my nose gets bit by Jack Frost, I am feeling toasty in my down-filled chore jacket.  My ears carefully covered by my blaze-orange snow cap hardly sense the cold.

As I reach the bottom of the hill, I cast my eyes up onto the disk on the nearby calf shed wall.  The circular dial tells me that it is ten degrees below zero.

Chores stretch out from November till March during our calving season.  I bottle-feed and pail-feed the calves.  I see to it that they have satisfying amounts of hay.  Calves need to be fed twice daily, every day.  I am watchful to see that the calves are eating well and not showing signs of illness.

This new responsibility and schedule takes some time in which to adjust.  I have been doing these chores since late November.  Knowing that I have to do this morning and evening every day for 5 whole months straight can be overwhelming.  After all, March is still 60 and more days away.  So, I reject pondering that thought and do the chores one day at a time.

Being responsible for doing daily chores for these calves has given me a greater respect for my husband who has carried the responsibility for his herd these past thirty-some years.

photo credit: danielmoyle via photopin cc

Fresh Milk from the Milker

Since our kids have left the nest we built here on the farm, I have graduated to be the calf chore crew for my husband.

When daylight savings time ends, calf chores have to be done in the dark.

The calf shed is on the east side of the barn.  My house is on the west side of it.  So my path takes me down the hill, into the barn.  There my husband supplies me with the milk that I am to use for feeding the baby calves in the shed.

Moonlight for the Wintry World

I carry the pails of milk to the barn door.  I unlatch it and one of the barn cats scoots out the door in front of me.  I can see the barnyard from the lights in the barn.  But when the door shuts, my eyes adjust to the moonlight on the ground.  I slowly maneuvre to the stairway that will lead me up out of the barnyard to the calf shed door.

Just inside the door is a light switch.  As soon as the lights are on, calves beller.  They know what comes next…Lunch!

Cats Getting Their Share

Barn cats know what that means, too.  They greedily gather around to glean the leftovers that I can give to them when the calves have had their share.

photo credit:Wenda Grabau
photo credit:Bretta Grabau
photo credit:Bretta Grabau

Usually in the springtime, you may enjoy seeing lots of young calves in the pastures with their mothers close by.

Yet, on this farm, we plan to have the young born in the fall and winter.  The reason we do this is for our convenience.

In the spring, the “Do List” includes:

• plowing
• disking
• planting 
• fencing 
• manure spreading 
• cleaning the chicken house for the new chicks

The summertime “Do List” is similarly busy:

• cut, rake, bale and store hay
• cultivate corn
• combine oats
• bale straw

In the autumn:

• shell corn, if room is needed for the harvest in the corn crib
• pick the corn
• store the corn in the cribs
• spread manure
• take down fencing in the pastures that is not needed over the winter
• cut wood for next year’s firewood supply
• plow any fields possible before the snows come

Any time all year the machinery must be maintained and the cows must be milked and cared for.  So by now, you can tell, that there is a lot to coordinate on a dairy farm. 

Fast forward to late fall.  Dairy cattle are not like beef cows or horses, in that they can calve all alone and manage just fine. Dairy cattle sometimes need  to be helped with the delivery of their young.

Our income comes from healthy cows.  Our future income will come from healthy calves.   Therefore, my husband is actively on maternity duty. 

He is a good record keeper.  He knows the day each cow was bred.  Hence, he knows when to expect the offspring to come.  He checks on them during the night and watches then during the day.  Some nights he spends napping in the barn, so he can be nearby to help the cow when the calf comes.

All of this attention to birthing mixed in with spring and summer duties would be difficult.  My husband arranges the calving to occur when most of the crop work is done.  As it is, he becomes weary.  Doing all of this along with the time pressure of spring and summer jobs would be overwhelming.  Therefore, you understand management’s decision to calve in the fall and winter.

photo credit: Compassion in World Farming via photopin ccnbsp;
photo credit: PLR_Photos via photopin cc