The Red Poll Girls

The Red Poll girls have been growing thicker coats as our temperatures dropped. I feel sorry for them sometimes, but they seem to enjoy the cold - within reason, of course:

I ran out of five foot diameter bales and had to start feeding four foot diameter bales - two at a time:

Gladys and Loretta lounged comfortably on the frosty grass and chewed their cuds:

I move the bale feeder every time I bring out more hay. This helps keep the feeder from becoming frozen in the old, uneaten hay and also gives the girls a poop-free spot to eat:

This is Violet, a real beauty:

Cow society:

Exchanging gossip?

The calves, being shorter, often get covered in hay while they're eating at the hay bale feeder:

Life is good, with or without snow:

Sometimes I move the bale feeder while there is still enough edible hay to keep them eating for awhile. The leftover hay also makes a nice bedding area:

Every morning after they get grain, they all drink water while I refill the stock tank:

Scarlett was the last cow remaining who had not been inseminated for next year. But one day, I noticed that she was in heat and called the artificial insemination man who, I'm glad to say, is also a neighbor. He came right over. Now, at least as far as I know, all six cows are pregnant: