It's just a little spiral bound book...about 3" x 5" or so. You know...one of those notebooks that you'd write a grocery list in...or doodle in during Church...or something. Jim's Dad started this book at the end of 1990 to keep track of when cows freshen, and we've kept it up ever since...
We filled it up just last week. It was getting a little sloppy here at the end...trying to fit all the records in for the last few weeks in December. We ended up adding another paper in the back so that we could start a new book in the new year...
We have other breeding records, of course, but this book is especially handy if we want to go back and see exactly when a cow freshened last year...or to see how many bulls vs heifers she's had, etc...
The back cover holds a record of how many calves were born each year since 1991. It looks like the numbers have been pretty consistent, with the exception of 2000, when we had an abundance of calves...
And here we are...this morning's calf started the first book...
It's not nice to wish for bull calves, but our hutches are full, and so are the box pens! Bulls would be welcomed about now.
We're headed for the deep freeze tomorrow again. Temps are to drop to around 0 F. tonight, with wind chills close to -20 F by morning. I'm sure we'll be busy keeping water bowls open tomorrow. Weather forecasts like this make my anxiety levels rise. I'm definitely a fair weather fan.
See you after it's over!
