Red Poll Cattle - An April Update

The Red Poll girls have been looking happy, lazy, sleek and fat. I'd say they've been enjoying life:

Gracie, now showing her pregnancy, has mellowed:

And Rosella has joined the herd as "just one of the girls:"

I was on the tractor one day when I saw Violet lead her baby, Annie, across a drainage ditch. Annie at first appeared nonplussed:

But quickly figured out that a graceful leap would carry her safely across:

And speaking of Annie, she's quite the little charmer. As of this writing, I have been unable to catch her and tattoo her ears. The neighbors have offered to help but so far her mama has kept her out of our clutches:

And speaking of charmers, Rosella has calmed down and become quite friendly:

I moved the bale feeder away from the barn and over into the south field, where I lift it off the bale every four days and roll it to a new location. This keeps the bale feeder from getting locked in old hay, as happened last year. It also allows the cows to pick thoroughly through the last of the bale and sleep on what's left:

Violet and Annie stay with the herd but move away when I get too close:

Life is good for Red Polls at Windswept Farm:

And little Annie frolics and runs like a deer:

Whenever the snow melts and the ground thaws, the girls go looking for grass. But so far, they have to keep coming back to their hay bale. I'm almost out of hay, so I'm hoping spring is almost here. Since winter has hung on so very long, I expect a sudden and quite dramatic turn to springtime: