Jared and Dave are getting ready for calving to start! A fun yet scary adventure ahead! They decided they needed to get something for the new calves to huddle into WHEN the weather turns bad, and by the looks of today there just might be a bigger need for calf shelters than we could even imagine! Jared priced out what it would cost to buy pre-made shelters at UFA and then priced out the lumber it would take to build one! To buy it was around $600, and make $300! You can guess what they decided to do! Jared had the Young Men out for their weekly activity to start the framing, they did a good job and had a lot of fun, and they all left with 10 fingers and 10 toes intact! Dave came out the next saturday and together he and Jared finished one shelter! It looks great, the calves will be nice and toasty warm!
Last night Jared started working on the second shelter, when he thought he had better take a survey of the land to see where they could actually calve the cows out safely, without the danger of water! The one side of the corrals where the cows come in to get water is completely full of water and the field is about the same. IF a cow has trouble calving and the guys have to bring her into the barn they would have to trudge through knee deep water, not ideal! So Jared decided the best option would be to move the cows into the corral where their last year calves are, and move those calves out into the field. That side of the corrals is much drier because Jared has been feeding the calves in there so the hay has built up the ground nicely, it also has great access to the barn if needed. It was funny how Jared came up with this idea. He went over and stood by the barn, just leaning against the fence post, there were a few calves in the corral eating and looking at him, by the time he came out of his trance, 30 minutes later, all the calves were in the little corral surrounding Jared in a semi circle just looking at him, the closest ones only being an arms length away! I know Jared is really enjoying working with the cattle, and they sure seem to like him, they aren't jumpy around him when he goes in to cut the strings on the bales. The one thing he would like to be able to control though, is all the water we have sitting EVERYWHERE! We now own lake front property! I have never said this before but I truly wish we could have a huge wind to dry everything up, preferably before April 20, when we are expected to start calving!!
I think my book was just under $40. I had a lot of pages and you have to pay for over 20 or 30 (can't remember)It took a month to come in. On Cutest blog on the block home page they have a link to make your book. Good luck.
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