Calving Lot Ski Slope
- April 10, 2025
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- Jan Swan Wood
Posted in: Featured, Ranch Life
It had been a long winter, having started in November and being cold and snowy clear until March. We
didn’t need the March blizzard that dumped feet of snow and made drifts higher than our eight foot windbreak fences, but we got it anyway. It was an ordeal just to get the stock fed in the corrals.
We had started calving and were about a third done. During the blizzard, to keep the calves from getting
buried in the snow, we’d tucked the babies in the calving shed along with a gentle pair and had let them
out to nurse periodically. They got pretty easy to put back in the shed after a few times as it was cozy in
there with the straw and no wind.
When the storm had blown itself out, we started the process of getting gates dug out and some of the
snow moved. We had a gate across the calving shed door that the calves could go under so we had it in
place so they could go outside and nurse and still go inside and lay down on the straw in the shed. They
liked that set up pretty well.
The sun came out bright by about late morning and we’d gone in to eat and rest a few minutes. When
we came back out, we could see the windbreak fence with the huge drift over the top of it. It was one that was built before we got the place and was boarded solid. Consequently, all the snow would drop right by the inside of the corral fence instead of out further as it will with gapped windbreak boards. The fence was solid snow clear to the top and had a stretch where it was on both sides of the fence.
As we were slogging back through the snow toward the corrals, we saw calves up on top of the huge
drift. It seemed odd that they would go up there, but not ridiculous. They’d been cooped up for several
days and probably were bursting with energy and climbed up the drift because they could. They’d stand
up there looking around, frolic around a bit, then vanish from sight.
The drift was probably six feet across and nine feet tall by the west fence and angled steeply off to the ground. When we got through the gate we stopped and stared. The calves would start up the drift on
the north side of the corral where it angled a bit more, then race along the fence top as it turned gradually to the south and when they got to the west side where the drift was tallest, they’d bounce around, butting their heads together, then off they’d go, one at a time down that drift. They’d slide to the bottom on the feet and hind quarters, then race to the north side and do it again.
We started laughing at their antics and it was much needed laughter. The smile factor had been pretty low for a long time, with the blizzard making it worse. We were exhausted, and still had more to do, but for the moment, we just stood there and laughed at those little calves having a grand time on their personal ski slope.
None of them went over the fence to get out of the corral, as they could have walked over both the west and south fences. The south fence drift could have given them a walkway clear out to and across the
county road! But not a single calf left the corral. They played until they were thirsty, then found their
mothers and nursed. Tummies full, they went for a nap in the calving shed where the sun shone in on the straw. We’d never seen anything like that before and never did again. It was sure a balm for our tired
hearts though and gave us something to smile about while we cleared up the mess.
Posted in: Featured, Ranch Life
About Jan Swan Wood
Jan was raised on a ranch in far western South Dakota. She grew up horseback working all descriptions of cattle, plus sheep and horses. After leaving home she pursued a post-graduate study of cowboying and dayworking in Nebraska, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota....