By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Donnie Hett of Marion wouldn’t say how many cattle he has, but he has “way too many when I’m feeding them, and not near enough when I’m selling them.”

Hett has a bunch of heifers that started calving the first half of January. He hasn’t had any losses so far.

Now, his cows are starting to calve.

“The calving season so far this year is much better than last year,” he said.

January proved to be more wet than cold, presenting challenges, Hett said.

He checked the heifers every night and brought five or six calves into the barn to warm them up and give them colostrum milk.

The first cow that calved had twins.

“We have a bottle calf now,” he said. “My wife isn’t too happy about that.”

All of the cattle are on winter pastures, so when it gets too muddy to deliver feed, the animals can live off the grass.

“I try to keep them in good flesh when the weather is dry, so they can survive the wet times,” he said.