Monday, April 21, 2008

Busy Day on the Ranch

It has been a busy morning around the ranch! We have been under a heavy snowfall warning, and, as you can see, they weren't kidding!


We had to do a little repair work on our calf shed - one of the cows managed to get herself hung up on the board across the front that is supposed to keep the cows out! She jumped over it with her front feet, then couldn't get her back legs over. Sigh. Ended up breaking the board when we tried to take it off. So we had to put up a new board. Then we put some bedding in the shed for the calves and spread some in front of it for the cows.

We also had to put another cow in the barn. She is very close to calving, and the weather is still quite cold. The calf that was born in the barn yesterday is finally sucking. He had a little trouble learning how, but has the hang of it now.

16 comments:

Leah J. Utas said...

We've got about as much snow although it's blowing around so it's hard to get a proper accounting.

That must have been some determined cow.

Reb said...

We are still under snowfall warnings. Poor cow, was her baby in the shed? Or was she just tired of the snow like us? Glad the baby is drinking now.

JavaChick said...

Guess you were right about the mama cows waiting for bad weather to have their babies. :(

the Bag Lady said...

dfLeah - dadblamed snow! It is still coming down, but not as hard as it was.
Reb - yes, her baby was in the shed. I am not sure how long she was standing there like that, but the calf still had access to breakfast!
Javachick - the cows always seem to do this - if the weather is bad, they'll start calving!

Unknown said...

Aw I hope the cow that got stuck is okay. How many cows do you have, anyways?

Hilary said...

Poor bovines! And poor you with that weather. I suppose it wouldn't be right to tell you that I got my first bit of a sunburn today, eh? No, I didn't think so... ;)

Emily said...

Oh wow! I'm sending warm thoughts you way to hopefully run off the snow.

I won't brag about our 75F, no cloud, sun-burning weather we're having all week LOL!

Scrumpy said...

Snow in late April? Are you sure people are supposed to be living up there?

the Bag Lady said...

Sagan - she seems to be okay.
We sold most of our herd last year, only kept 6 old cows, 13 heifers, 1 steer, and the 2 bulls. We also had 3 other steers, but took them to the abattoir last week. So we are only calving out 19 cows this year.
Hilary - sunburn? The Bag Lady has windburn...
Emily - so glad you didn't brag about your perfect weather! :) And thanks for the warm thoughts.

the Bag Lady said...

SB - sometimes I wonder! But when summer comes and we have 19 hours of daylight every day, I quite like it.

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

OMG- it's almost May, people! I say you should initiate a formal protest to the Canadian government. You are NOT being treated fairly!

the Bag Lady said...

BG - good point! Doubt if it would do much good though.
We have seen snow in practically every month, at one time or another. Doesn't mean I like it, though!
We need moisture, but I'd have been happy with a nice warm rain.

Anonymous said...

home.

87 here.

cant believe your pictures!!

M.

the Bag Lady said...

Miz - glad you made it home okay! Wish I were there with you instead of here with all this snow! 87 sounds lovely.

Mary said...

That is more snow than I have ever seen in my whole life. Ever.

the Bag Lady said...

Mary - that is quite a lot for this time of year, especially considering we had dust last week!