Winter Chores - Friday On The Farm
January 21, 2025
While winter may slow down some operations, it doesn't really slow things down around here. Oftentimes, the arrival of colder weather will increase the workload. With colder temps, the amount of time spent prepping to go outdoors with gloves, hats, and coats to complete daily chores is doubled! Plus we got the girls matching pink Carhartt coveralls for Christmas, so they love to get bundled up too :)
Daily operations on the farm can be a bit more of a challenge, especially when temps get below freezing, such as keeping the water from being frozen for the cattle and elsewhere on the farm, having to spread out the hay with the hay bale processor due to the lack of fresh grass or cornstalks, and the extra steps it takes when winter hits the farm that causes a chore to take much longer than expected.
But, one thing that I always look forward to in the winter is calving season (which is quickly coming up). I love all the new calves around the farm and it’s something I look forward to all year long! With the calving season in the winter also comes some challenges, but oh so worth it.
Last year at this time, we had *feels like* temperatures of -37 degrees and over 2 feet of snow, the cattle were hunkered down. This is definitely cold for them, but did you know cattle have built-in insulation against the cold with their thick hides? Cattle's average body temperature is about 101 degrees, and they prefer cold temps to hot temps.
Did you know when cattle have 'snow blankets' (i.e., snow on their backs), it means they are retaining their body heat and staying warm?
Click here to read more about how farmers take care of their cattle in the winter weather.
Thanks for following along!
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