Meet Piper

Temperatures have been brutally cold for the past four days. Thursday we were at -24 degrees (-37 degrees with windchill factored in).

Weather this cold is really only good for a couple of things:

1. Keeping your icecream cold

AND

2. Sending messages to your family 1500 miles away



Other than that the temperature drop spells BIG problems for the ranch and our new calves.

Meet Piper.

(Yes, I name all of our calves who stand out and/or require special attention.)

Piper was born the first night the winter storm hit. She was so cold that she just couldn't muster up the strength to stand up and nurse. When we found her she was half frozen and extremely weak due to lack of nutrition. Her tongue had frost bite, and was hanging lifelessly out the side of her mouth. Because she was unable to stand up after being born her feet became crippled underneath her. Cowboy (my heroic hubby) quickly came to her rescue taking her to the barn where she could warm up. Since then we've been bottle feeding Piper the puny calf every morning and night hoping to see some progress in her health.

This morning she seemed to be doing poorly. Her nose was running and her breathing was heavy. The cold has taken a toll on Piper's little lungs. All we can do is continue to try and nurse her back to health and give her lots of love.

Thankfully, most of our calves seemed to be completely unaffected by this weeks weather.

Come get your hay mamas!!!