December 15, 2010
It seems like lately, we always have some sort of big project going on. Right now, the project is adding a shed onto the side of the calving barn at the feedlot. When we spring (read: winter) calve, we bring up all of the cows that are due soon to the pens up around the barn, where we feed them hay and keep a close eye on them. If the weather gets nasty, there is room in the big end of the barn to put those closest to calving inside. Then, there are 8 stalls in the barn (our working alley actually breaks up into stalls if you close all the gates) that we bed and put individual pairs in after they calve, to give them a chance to bond with each other. It also lets us make sure that the calf has nursed, and gives him a chance to be in out of the cold winter weather long enough for him to really get going. After they have been inside for 12-24 hours, they go out into a pen next to the barn for a couple of days so we can still keep a close eye on them before heading out to the big pasture. With the number of cows we are going to be calving all at the same time this spring, we were afraid that there wouldn’t be room to keep them inside for very long, because of needing the stalls for the next calves being born. We decided the best solution to this problem was to add a shed to the side of the barn. Now there will be another place inside that will be big enough to put several pairs once they are bonded with mom and don’t have to stay just with her anymore, but would still be better off inside with more shelter. We got the posts set a day or two before the ground froze too hard, and now they just have to finish building it. Hope they don’t have too much trouble, we start calving January 17th!
