Red Polls In The Snow

It ain't easy being a bovine in the north country, but these hardy gals (and one boy) seem to handle it without much problem:

 Their hay consumption went from a bale every three days to a bale every two days. When our third nor'easter hit, they consumed an entire bale in one day:

 After I moved the bale feeder away from the barn and out into the bigger field, they had no protection from cold, west winds - but so far the winds have been mild. I wish I could say the same about the snowfall:

 But between snowstorms, we have had some lovely weather:

 And a fat cow or two has been been known to find a comfy spot and sprawl out for a nap:

 March brought lots of snow, and this is a typical morning scene when I ring the bell to call them in for a bit of grain:

 Another nice day, with the cattle happy and comfortable between snow storms. The mud is another story altogether:

 Amy was smaller than the other cows when they arrived and kind of strangely shaped. She's grown into a very large cow and most of her odd conformation has disappeared. She was not fed well as a heifer and they all looked starved when I got them:

 Well, they sure don't look starved now. In fact, I have the opposite problem with most of them obese:

 Little Rocket has decided he likes grain but it is difficult to get a bowl to him without one of the big animals stealing it:

 I used to drop the hay bale into the feeder and then try to split off the frozen and/or water logged exterior layer. I'm now trying a new technique. I set the bale on the ground outside the feeder and then use the bale spear to split off the outer layer. It usually falls to the ground and opens up, exposing the fresher hay from the inside. The animals run right to it while I drop the main part of the bale into the feeder:

 And of course some of them also run right to the feeder to feast on the new bale: