Our first calves of the year

Frankly, this is the best time of year on our Wisconsin farm. The snow is finally starting to melt as warmer temperatures arrive. We start preparing for all the work ahead, but the most exciting part is that our momma cows are getting ready to start having their calves. 

On our farm, we only calve in the spring. The majority of our calves are born in the month of April and a few in May as well. We try to find that sweet spot where it’s after the last snowstorm and move them to their calving pasture where they have a nice dry place to calve since this time of year is “mud season” in the Midwest.

Below is a picture of our first calf of 2023. This little guy was just up tearing around (day 2 of his life) and having fun. He disappeared after watching him for a few minutes, so I went down to check on him. That’s his mom laying down on the left-hand side of the picture. I’d get a closer pic but since he’s a newborn his momma may not take too kindly to a close up so I decided not to disturb her as they looked quite content.

Many of our cows are black Angus, and the last few years we’ve been breeding them to a Hereford bull. So, while the Angus cows are all black, we have some genetics such that we will sometimes get a red calf with this crossbreeding. Personally, I love the red calves, while the rest of the cattle industry strongly prefers all black cattle. 

Here are a few other pictures of additional calves that were recently born: