Snow babies

Mother Nature doesn't care if there is 16 inches of snow on the ground - and up to 5 feet in drifts in places.

When it is time for the babies to come, they come.

Our beef cows are older cows who have had many babies. They do not like barns and they stay outside. They are pasture fed and in the winter my husband takes them hay every day. When it is time to have their calf, they wander from the herd, find a comfy spot, and pop it out.

Because we never deal with heifers (young cows that have never had a calf before), we seldom have problems. But we still pay attention and watch the animals so that if something should go wrong, we can help.

Saturday, two cows had calves. Early in the day, the first cow had her baby on the far side of the farm under a cedar tree. Everything was fine, but then the baby strayed from momma and found himself hung up in a snow drift. My father-in-law spied the trouble from his front window and gave us a call.



Husband hopped on the big Ford tractor and used the snow plow to furrow his way to momma and baby, where he reunited them. He took momma cow hay, too, so she could eat and keep baby warm.

Meanwhile, as he cared for that momma and baby, another momma cow had a calf right in front of the house under a cedar tree! I saw it happening from the window and called him on the cell. "Don't put the tractor away yet!" I told him. "I think we need another bale of hay over here."



He used the snowplow to make a track to this side of the farm, too.



And here is mom and baby beneath the cedar, waiting on him to bring them hay.