With the cattle herd still at multi-decade lows, every calf counts more than ever. That’s especially true during these last few days as arctic air and winter storms poured into the lower 48.
Macey Sorrell and her family live and farm in Mt. Sterling, Ky. As the area recently experienced storms of freezing rain and sheets of ice, the Sorrells welcomed a new calf into the world.
“Whenever my husband found her, she was maybe two hours old and she was already frozen with ice all in her hair,” Sorrell describes. “Her little umbilical cord looked like a popsicle. So I took the truck back there, put the calf in the bed of the truck and brought her in the house.”
Blankets, a hair dryer, a good rub down and bottle of colostrum helped warm the new baby up.
“After she got her belly full, she was ready for a nap,” Sorrell says. “My kids had also fallen asleep, so I just piled her up on the couch with them for some cuddles.”
The pictures she snapped while the little ones slept are cute enough to warm even the coldest heart. The moment, frozen in time, is now going viral.
“The reaction has been crazy,” Sorrell laughs. “You know, anywhere around here, this is nothing new. You’re going to see a calf inside, a sheep or even a goat. Folks are going to bring the babies inside. I think what made it so special was just the calf on the couch with the babies cuddling.”
The next morning, warm and newly named baby Sally had a happy reunion with her mama.
“When her mama heard her mooing, she came running,” Sorrell says. “Sally started nursing, and they have both been really good since.”
Sorrell and her husband, Tanner, are pleased with the results and the life lessons for their little crew.
“I think, if anything, it’s not an animal. It is a life, and we’ll do whatever we can to help not only an animal but anybody,” Sorrell says. “There’s always a space in my house for a critter.”
The cold is still visiting. More snow is in the forecast. The work at America’s farms and ranches never stops. Since Sally arrived, more babies have been born in the cold.
“We actually had a baby calf born just a few days before that one, and then another one born yesterday,” Sorrell says.
And life on the farm continues, both inside and out.
It’s not just Kentucky dealing with the severe winter storm aftermath and the devastation it left behind. As of Jan. 31, 2026, it was reported over 150,000 homes and businesses remain without power across the Mid-South, specifically in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, following a severe winter storm.
Farm Journal’s Chris Bennett says it could be weeks before his area of Mississippi will have power again, as he describes the horrific scene from last week’s winter storm.
