Chris Lees had some special guests in his home Feb. 14, but it had nothing to do with Valentine鈥檚 Day.
The Arcola-area rancher brought three newborn calves from his farm into his house, giving them a chance to warm up and stay out of the extreme cold. The calves were born earlier in the day.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just starting to calve, and quite often a group of cows will just decide it鈥檚 the day to calve, and it鈥檚 a bit of a weather change,鈥� Lees told the Observer. 鈥淚 guess they just decided the last day of the really cold weather, they were all going to calve.鈥�
The barn was full and the hot box where the Lees would typically put calves to warm up also had no vacancies, so it seemed like the easiest thing to do was bring the three animals in the house, warm them up for a couple of hours, allow them to dry off and take them back to their mothers.
鈥淲hen they鈥檙e fresh born, they鈥檙e wet and they can freeze really quick,鈥� said Lees. 鈥淎 real good mom will get her calf up and going, but at 40 below, it鈥檚 tough on you and me, and we鈥檙e dressed for the worst weather possible. They鈥檙e out there in the elements, with wet hair and what have you, and they need to get dried off and they need to get warmed up.鈥�
This isn鈥檛 the first time that he has brought newborn calves into his home, but he鈥檚 never had three in the house at the same time. In fact, he can鈥檛 recall having more than one calf in there at once. Lees knows of other cattle farmers who have kept newborn calves into their house or heated shop for a short period of time so they can stay warm.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our life and it鈥檚 our passion, raising cattle, and you need to get these calves warmed up, and happy and healthy, so they can go back and be with their moms,鈥� said Lees.
He even compared it to having your dog or your cat in the house.
The calves are doing well now, and they鈥檙e happy the temperatures have warmed up. It was still pretty cold outside on Tuesday and Wednesday, but it felt a lot warmer compared to -30 C with a strong northwest wind.
Lees, who is the board president for the Canadian Western Agribition, sent a photo of the cattle to Agribition鈥檚 CEO, noting that housing the calves was his family鈥檚 activity for Valentine鈥檚 Day. The photo was then posted on social media, which brought lots of attention to Lees鈥� gesture.
He鈥檚 been receiving lots of calls since then, and he鈥檚 okay with the added recognition.
