Hot box

Brrrrrr. It is cold.  Oh it looks like a beautiful spring day but no.  Winter is rearing her bitterly cold head this week.  

Thank heaven we have a good hot box.  Hot box?  Yes and this week we may wish we had two.  

A hot box is an enclosed crate or box that a baby calf can be put into to warm up.  Ours has two openings... A large one on the side to access the calf and a small one at the top to control the heat.  There is also an opening where a little heater can be placed to heat the calf.  Ours is a deluxe model(haha) and there is a fan towards the top to help push the hot air back down towards the calf.  The fan also helps dry off the calf which is one of the main reasons we need a hot box.  

Good momma cows should shell out their calves then quickly get to cleaning them off.... With their tongues. This removes the "goop" from birth and dries them off.

Heifers are usually harder to get to do this to their calves and just two nights ago we lost a calf to a stupid heifer who had her calf then walked off.  That calf essentially froze to death, even though my husband was checking every two hours...you just can't help the really stupid ones.  However he still tried to save the calf but he knew it was useless because it was in the death moans.  That's not good.  But it spent its last few minutes nice and warm and cozy in the hot box. 

 Here is a picture of a calf that perked right up after a little stint in the box!

Ok just because it is so cute....a heifer twin another picture! 

Starting out

I guess I have entered into the world of blogging. I know several people with blogs from what their families are doing to what issues most concern them. I believe that I will be a mix of things from the F's....Faith, Family, Farm, Friends.

Today I am waiting for one of my best friends to come visit my family for a few days with her little son. Although he is only seven months old, I look forward to exposing him to his first baby calf. We have two bottle calves right now that we feed twice a day. Both were born twins and Orrin pulled them off so their sibling could stay with their mom. We hope we have to feed these two throughout the calving season because otherwise another calf would have had to die. These are "adoption" calves. We are saving these calves for a momma cow who has lost her calf.

I have decided to name them Polly (the Gelbvieh calf-more redish/brown) and Molly (the Black Angus calf). You know....Polly Holle and Molly Holle!

Orrin gets a little frustrated at them, and I do too! They both demand to be fed but can't quite figure out that if they concentrate on their OWN bottle instead of the other calf's it would go smoother. Instead I end up coming back in the house covered from the hip down in calf slobber and smelling of milk replacer. But they are so cute so I forgive them!

Calving season is going well as evidenced by us having two extra calves. Some years we are calling neighbors and scouring the sale barns for baby calves to buy to put on a cow that has lost her calf. It is then a whole ordeal to get the cow to accept the new calf. Orrin has found the best way is to skin the dead calf from shoulder to hip and then tie the skin on the new calf with twine. That way there the new calf smells just like the dead calf. We make sure to put the cow and new calf in a stall together so they can bond quicker. It is easier for some than others but we try hard to give each cow a chance to prove herself as a mother.

The weather isn't cooperating well today. It has continued to snow most of the day with a wet heavy snow. The ground is not frozen so under the snow is a layer of mud. The good thing is the temperature is not so cold nor is the wind blowing. We can't wait for it to dry out and be sunny and warm!