TENT CITY

After a fairly mild, dry winter we are riding out the roughest late winter/early spring in years.

Many nights it plummets down into the high 20s or very low 30s.

The calves that are with their moms do fine. The calves in group pens do fine also. Early morning finds them all cuddled together around the big hay bales fast asleep.

Its the little ones individual pens that I worry about. They cant seek out a warm spot, they depend on me. The best solution I have found is to group them all together each still in their own pen, fill their pen deep with hay and then cover them over with huge tarps.

A tent city if you will....

The tarps are weighted down every few feet with blocks and once they get their evening milk they get "tucked in" for the night.

I do a final check just before midnight to see what the temperature is in their house. Amazingly enough, the warmth of the hay and their combined body heat rising and being blocked by the tarp keeps them 20 - 30 degrees warmer than the outside temperature.

Toasty!

The next morning they are fed and covered back over if it is a very cold day. If not the tent is folded back so they can enjoy the sunshine of late morning

Whats so funny is how much they like the tent. They seem to really enjoy their cozy blue tinged world.