I hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather as much as we are. Snowy frozen ground is clean! The lambs born last spring get some shelter in the barn this time of year, but everyone else is outside on snowy pasture. When the ground is frozen there is no mud, which helps them stay clean. We also roll out bedding hay for the cows and sheep to lay on. A few bales a week gives the animals plenty of bedding and keeps them insulated from the snow.

A few weeks ago we weaned our calves from the mother cows. We do what is called fence line weaning where the calves and the mother cows are separated by electric fences. They can stand two feet from each other but can't touch or nurse. This has been studied by different universities and is considered the least stressful way to wean calves.

After weaning, we keep the calves in a pasture next to the corral for a few weeks in case anyone gets sick. Then the steers go across the valley to one pasture and the heifers to another. Weaning gives the mother cows a break before calving in the spring. It also helps the calves grow better because they don't have to compete with the full grown cows for feed.

Thanks for reading,
Leith, Mary Kate, Norah & Edith MacKenzie
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