It's a double date day!!

The sun was starting to rise and the snow was falling just perfectly onto the faces of my precious little girls... All they had sticking out of their hutches was their heads calling for me to feed them. There is just something about the way calves and cows look in the snow. It is one, if not the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. 

The girls heading back to the barn after being milked.
Aren't they so pretty in the snow?

I was looking forward to yesterday because my boyfriend and I were going on a double date with my Grandparents! Can you guess where we were going? The Keystone Farm Show!! It's a farm show for FARMERS :)

...Doesn't sound much like a date I know I know!...

But before we could set sail we had to milk and do morning the chores and it took much longer than usual with a heifer calving, three calves drinking from bottles and my stubborn heifer calves not wanting to drink.

This snowy weather has the baby girls all sorts of outta whack. They were confused because they never saw snow before. They didn't want to come out of their hutches... I mean heck, I wouldn't want to either knowing how warm they are! They were adorable though, all I could do was just stare and smile in awe. The way they stepped one foot out of the hutch and when they stepped on the snow they quickly brought it back in the hutch. They did this a couple more times before they realized the snow wasn't going to bite them anymore then a little chill. 

One of my calves, "Star" who is about 2 weeks old, she was not wanting to eat yesterday morning. She wouldn't come out of her hutch either. I was coaching her along and calling to her... "Come here Star. Come on baby!" and she eventually came out but wouldn't drink. This calf drinks from a nipple bucket, which is a normal bucket that has a calf bottle nipple on the side of if. Some calves are slower learners than others and some are just really picky. But with it being this cold out I make sure that no matter how long it takes the calves to drink they drink all of their milk. Their milk provides them with the proper amount of nutrients and protein to create more energy which converts into heat during the winter. 

I had to help her drink along with another. It was so cold; the wind and snow hitting the only bare skin showing, my face. And when you wear glasses the snow sticks to them and makes it hard to see... I think I need to invest in some wipers!

This is Star and her nipple bucket. If I wasn't holding my
hand under her chin she would not drink for some reason.

But knowing that their bellies are full with warm and delicious milk makes the longer hours in the snow all worth it. And having a beautiful and healthy heifer calf born yesterday morning as well topped the morning off to our adventurous double date day! Coming in from the cold into our warm milk house my glasses fogged up and my grandpa said you need some defrosters on those things! So it looks like I'll be investing in some one of a kind glasses for the winter!

So all chores are done and babies tucked away in their hutches, our bellies are full and we are bundle up to set sail for our double date to the Farm Show!!!! This Farm Show is a vendors show that exhibits over 600 Agricultural businesses from, calf care, feed, cow comfort, animal housing, crop insurance (That's right insurance for our crops. Many farmers rely on their crops to feed their animals or sell for a living. If mother nature decides to make the seasons tough on the crops damaging the yields, then we could be helped by an insurance company). Pretty neat I thought because I thought their was only insurance on cars and houses and health.. but there's insurance on EVERYTHING!

Just a sneak peak of all the pamphlets and information I got yesterday!
Reading material for days!!

We went into the first building of 8 and you wouldn't even believe how long it took us to get through that building. It took us about 3.5 hours! We cannot take my grandfather any where with out him knowing someone and talking and if he does't know them before he starts talking he'll make sure they know one another by the time they are finished. He's a man who's involved in everything... Farm bureau, farmer's forum, conservation district, milk co-op board, Ag business council and much more! So yeah he's bound to know someone! And you know that saying "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree"? Well someone in our little date group of four was just as bad... Yeah just as bad!! I'm not sure if I should admit it but it was me. I must have inherited his talking genes because I couldn't walk by a booth either with out knowing someone or meeting someone new... it made the trip very enjoyable though!

My goal yesterday was to hit up as many calf nutrition and care booths as possible to gather information on different products that I could potentially use to provide my girls with the best nutrients and probiotics possible for a healthy life. I talked to many nutritionists, vets, and calf specialists about their products and lets just say I have a lot of studying to do now! 

We spent about five hours at the show and had to cut it short because we had to make it back in time to milk and feed calves! We don't get to go on many dates as farmer's but when we do get away from the farm and spend time with our better halves; whether it's dinner or a movie or most of the time related to work... yup it's a date!! My dates usually consist of spending alone time with my boyfriend as we ultrasound cows, breed cows, and do other farm work together, The time spent together is cherished, it may not be the typical date but it's the perfect date in our books!

~The Barn Window