Calves

We're 3 weeks into the calving season, a little earlier in the year than usual.  Since I was worried about Lambert feeling bad in warm weather due to his case of pneumonia last year, I put him and the Angus bull in with their respective cows a month earlier than usual.  We have 10 calves on the ground which is about half--we expect 21 total--and everything looks good so far.  Three weeks is enough time for all the cows to have a heat cycle, so perfect results would be that they all bred back on their first heat and all the calves would be here by now.  But putting the bulls in a month early put a month of pressure on the cows' breeding back and, although I think their general health and body condition were fine, their nutrition might not have been ideal due to the ongoing drouth and probable lower quality of the hay we were feeding them.  We'll have that concern this spring too.  Lambert appears to have done his job, with one Polled Hereford in the picture there and several of his other dams looking very close to calving, and he's feeling fine, gaining weight and looking forward to the next breeding season.  We had a cold front and freezing rain yesterday, which often seems to cause some births, so we'll be down there today counting noses and looking for new ones.  Come see us and help us count.