Cold Blast is Here!

Monday, February 15, 2021
Hello friends,
Last week I spent a considerable amount of space in the newsletter on preparing for the cold. It is now upon us! Currently the unofficial thermometer says -2 and the moon is visible so that means it has cleared off and the insulating clouds are gone. We are bracing ourselves for presumably the coldest night of the winter. At least I hope this is the worst of it. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but we are hoping the light is not headlights on a train!
Lots of snow today with blowing and drifting. The cows have snow on their backs and frost on their whiskers. That snow is actually a good sign that they are not losing a lot of body heat. With the threat of rolling blackouts, we are hoping they skip over us. I know we have to use more electricity to keep the stock tank heaters running, but it’s too dangerous to risk them falling through the ice on the pond. I did see some of them licking the snow, but for a producing dairy cow, it would be difficult to get enough water that way to stay healthy.
Last week we procured a big round bale of straw and put it right in the middle of the loafing shed. Very convenient…..