Nothing like a nice "cold sweat"

BBBBRRRRRR!!!!! The wind today was B-it-ter!

Rewind to 10 years ago... same time of of year and same weather... gusty and cold! Just picture me, a 13 year old who complained about the cold, sitting in front of the wood stove, eating grilled cheese and tomato soup (perfect winter time food!), snuggled up in pajama fleece pants and a blankie. .. oh yeah don't forget the hot chocolate and marshmallows. I would not go out side to play unless there was lots of snow... but probably not even then.

Now fast forward 10 years to present day, TODAY...

I was excited to go outside to take on today's task.... cleaning calf hutches, bedding down calf pens and Calf-tel hutches, and moving around heifer calves. I knew that these next few days are going to be rough weather for the calves. Us farmers take pride in the way our calves look, we care about how warm they are staying and how healthy they are because our care towards them today reflects on their health, performance, longevity,  and strength in the future when it becomes breeding time and then time for them to produce milk for the community.

**** Calf-tel is the brand of hutches we use :)

So first, I took on the challenge of emptying an old metal wheel barrow that had been sitting out in the rain for the past couple months and had a flat tire... Did I mention it was still full and had a flat tire?! I bet you can only imagine how heavy and hard that was to push through a very, I mean very saturated ground. Oh my... I'm sure I gained about 5 pounds in muscle just trying to pushing that wheel barrow just to empty that first load.... that's not even counting the 25 other loads I had. Yes, I have a skid steer but the rain made the ground too soft the tires just spun and tore the grass up so that didn't long last. At least I got my workout in! We can always find a positive...

This calf hutch is so warm!!!
 Even I would take a nap in it!
Clean, fresh and warm straw for my babies!!

Usually we don't clean out the hutches every time we move a calf out, we do however let the previous bedding dry in the sun and add fresh thick bedding on top and it's good as new :) But, this winter I am doing everything I can to fight the winter bugs and that means cleaning out the bedding pack of three hutches that I took calves out of today. (I'll do the other seven hutches when those calves are old enough to move to the heifer barn... our calves are in hutch and drinking milk until about two months of age or a month and 3/4 ' s and eating grain on the daily).

Though it was freezing and brutally windy this girl broke out into, what I like to call a "COLD SWEAT!" My boyfriend never understands what I mean when I say that.

He's always like, "Toots, how can you have a cold sweat? If your sweating then you're hot, not cold!"

Welp, I gotta tell ya... a cold sweat happens quite often when your busting your booty outside in the cold! Pitch forking heavy packed bedding and pushing a heavy wheel barrow with pretty much no tire, if that doesn't make you break a sweat I don't know what will!!

And let me tell you a guilty pleasure of mine!!... I love "cold sweats"!!! Actually I just like to sweat in general (when I'm working that is) it makes me feel like I'm making some progress and actually working hard which happens often and I most certainly did today.

Even walking the calves on a halter made me break out into a "cold sweat"! The calves aren't used to something around their head/face let alone a rope halter and they aren't quite sure how to react to it. Some tend to play dead and fall over, some just go backwards, others plant their feet and won't move at all and my favorite... they run, kick and have fun with this strange thing on them! The halter doesn't hurt them it is like a collar and leash for a dog but the calf ' s halter goes around the nose and behind the ears of the calf rather than around its neck.

I had a blast today teaching six calves to get used to the rope halter. Some were a success and others not so much, some took me for a ride and some took a spill in the grass... no worries they didn't get hurt they got back up shook off and started running around the yard as they pulled me behind, kicking and jumping everywhere!! That's a happy and healthy calf right there, if I do say so myself!

 

This is a video of my Heifer calf, Butch. She is an example of a calf that 

takes you for a ride and runs and kicks... She loves it!!! She was a very 

stocky beefy like calf when she was born and "butch" came to mind 

when I named her. It's straight from the heart no worries!!! 

                                

 And this tiny thing is "Tink," she is one who hates the feeling of the 

halter she acts like it's throwing her all over the place... or she's drunk!!

 There's slack in the rope but yet she acts like this... she's a cutie. 

                                 

And here's "Ginger"!! Stubborn and hard headed calf she is!

 She wanted to plant her feet and walk backwards the whole time.

 She found the saturated hill though and took a little ride. Isn't she adorable though?!

~The Barn Window