The Red Poll Ladies In December

The cows seem to be unusually hungry this winter and have begun coming into the barn for a bit of grain on many mornings, something they've resisted for a long time. Jasmine, however, has gotten so spoiled that she thinks I'm supposed to carry grain out to her. She eats it, and only then goes into the barn to see what's inside. A bad bit of training on my part:

Prepare for many photos of the herd at the bale feeder this winter. They seldom go anywhere or do anything else:

When they've eaten all the hay, they burp up their cud for another chewing:

On extra cold days with westerly winds, they shelter on the east side of the barn:

I've been working on getting them into the barn for morning grain - not because they need grain, but so that I can work with them when they need veterinary care, artificial insemination or worming:

Scarlett was artificially inseminated in July, but it didn't take, so she had to be inseminated again. A calf is now expected this summer:

It may be winter, but we still have some lovely days:

The animals don't seem to mind the cold on days like these:

And they sure get down to serious eating when I put out a new hay bale:

I move the bale feeder each time I put out a new bale. I learned the hard way that not doing so makes it nearly impossible to move when spring arrives. Sadly, I seem to learn everything the hard way:

A rare moment when the girls wandered out into the field for no apparent reason except, perhaps, to chew their cuds:

After I drop a new bale into the feeder, I climb down off the tractor and remove the outer 4 or 5 inches from the bale because it's become water logged, icy and moldy. Under that outer layer, the hay is just fine: