The Winter Coat

I have a big Columbia camouflage coat that I wear when it gets cold.  It got down to 26 degrees the other day and I broke it out of the coat closet a lot earlier than I usually do.  It did the trick of keeping me nice and warm.  Oftentimes, I'm concerned about the animals when the cold weather kicks in, but mostly when it is cold AND wet.  I've always heard, animals can handle the cold and they can handle wet weather, but being cold and wet is a hard hill for them to climb.

Fortunately, God has created a mechanism in cattle that helps them out during winter.  They don't have to go to a coat closet - they GROW their coats.  They are all registered Jersey cows, and they don't do well in the summer.  In the summer, their coats are slick - not much hair at all.  However, when fall rolls around, their hair really starts growing.  Here is Clarabull.  You can tell he's a little "fuzzy." 

Luna doesn't grow a thick coat.  Clarabelle's coat comes in a little thicker.  Rosie is the cow that really puts a thick winter parka on!  Saturday morning after milking, I walked her out of the barn and was admiring the coat she was wearing.

Yeah, I'm talkin' about you, Rosie.  She always cocks one ear up and looks at us with that goofy look.  Rosie is the cow that likes to lay in the mud like a pig all summer to stay cool.   Now in the winter, she grows a big furry coat to keep herself comfortable.

I took a close-up of 'ol Rosie's belly so you can see just how thick her hair grows around this time every year.  When we are milking her in the barn, we're freezing cold, but it doesn't bother her at all.  You can feel how warm she is.

She grows a lot of hair on her udder, too, though, and sometimes we'll get out the clippers and shave her udder as long hair on her udder can get in the way when you are trying to milk her.  The long hair they grow helps them to stay warm during the winter, but come summertime, they'll shed the winter coat they worked so hard to grow.  It's a neat cycle that God orchestrated.