The Red Poll Ladies

I began the season with 77 big, round hay bales but only have 18 left. I am wondering if there will be enough to get the girls through to pasture time. Of course I have small bales in the barn's hay loft, so I can extend their hay supply with those if I need to. They are big, hungry animals, whose main activity is eating and processing food:

They haven't received much grain this winter, but it is clear that none of them are losing weight. In fact, I fear they may have gained weight!

They stand mostly to eat, then lie down to chew their cuds and nap. They don't burn many calories except perhaps to keep warm in the cold:

Life is good, and I wonder if they had the choice, would they choose winter with its cold or summer with its biting flies. I'm sure they'd prefer green grass to hay, but the heat and flies must surely be uncomfortable:

They seldom move from the east side of the barn, and if the winds are especially biting, they get right up next to the barn wall:

The pasture became covered with a slick layer of thick, dangerous ice, so I was happy to see the cows staying on the east side of the barn, where there is lots of waste hay to give them traction:

When the neighbor sheep farmers dumped two loads of stemmy hay, the girls ate their fill and then used the remainder for a soft, comfy bed:

Cow number five is Rosella, and she was sound asleep. The bald spot on her spine is from enthusiastic eating and rubbing on the top of the bale feeder:

Cud chewing is a necessary part of digestion:

But always they need more hay:

And then they snooze:

I don't remember if I put the bale feeder this close to the barn or they pushed it there - but I'm guessing it was the latter. I usually try to keep it away from the barn wall so snow and ice falling from the roof don't hit it or the cows:

Winter On The Farm

Winter mornings are sometimes beautiful, the scenery inspiring:

And other times, winter mornings are disheartening, making me want to go right back to bed:

Inside the barn, though, the white fantail pigeons are preparing for spring:

They are pairing up and choosing nest sites. A few eggs have been laid:

 

  Their hunger and thirst seem to have increased:

And they look healthy in spite of the invading English Sparrows:

There are now only ten bantam hens left, and seven of them are getting pretty old (one hen died this winter):

But they are healthy and active - and they too are beginning to lay a few eggs:

I know they'd like to go outdoors when the weather turns nice, and I may let them do so - not for too long, though, because of our ravenous, bold foxes:

The horses and cows are getting a fresh hay bale every two or three days:

And learning to find piles of waste hay on which to sleep:

As for me, I am longing for spring more than ever and have succumbed to the temptation to order two fancy Peony plants, a variety called Coral Sunset. I will have a lot of planting to do this spring and I'm looking forward to it:

Cows In The Snow

Our winter has been snowy, cold and icy, but the Red Poll girls handled it all with ease:

They luxuriated in leftover hay, a soft and relatively warm place to snuggle on cold days. Notice the cow with her head down:

And a great place to lie down and chew their cuds, oblivious to the cars racing by on the county road:

Amy was one of the cows who always came rushing into the barn for grain, but she apparently had such a good winter on hay that she stopped bothering with the grain:

Life has been pretty good on the east side of the barn, where they have some protection from cold, westerly winds:

Alas, being on the east side of the barn doesn't protect them from snow:

When the winds are howling and the temperatures are frigid, the girls cluster close to the barn:

Violet has continued to get fatter and, if it is even possible at her age, taller. She's a big girl. I had to buy her an extra-large collar a year or two ago and loosen it perhaps six months ago. But I noticed her collar kept getting tighter and I fretted about it, because Violet will not let me touch her:

But one morning she came into the barn for grain and I noticed that only she and Gracie were left inside after everyone had eaten. I closed the barn door on them and was able to get Gracie outside, leaving only Violet. Then I herded Violet through the squeeze chute and into the head-lock gate. She was so wide that I feared she'd bust out the sides of the squeeze chute and so tall that she almost couldn't get her head in the gate. But I finally got her locked in place and was able to loosen her collar. If she gets too big for her collar again, I guess I'll just remove it:

Our weather finally moderated sufficiently for the sheep farmers up the road to bring me two more loads of stemmy hay (their sheep only eat the leaves). Because I didn't want to lure the cows out onto the slippery ice, we dumped it right inside the gate, near the stock tank:

Rosella was the first cow to discover it:

Then Scarlett joined her, and the next morning I found all six of them sleeping atop what they hadn't eaten. These red-haired gals are having a good life:

Little Snow Horses

Blue and Remy hang out with their much bigger cow friends, even sleeping outdoors with them most nights even though they could sleep in the barn:

Blue is not afraid of the cows at the bale feeder:

And neither is Remy:

Both little guys do come into the barn sometimes, though, and I make sure to give them lots of attention when they are in there:

One day I found Remy, standing still and surrounded by ice and cold water. I recognized his panting as a sign of stress, so I walked to him, took him by the halter and led him back to the barn via the safest route I could find. I think he wandered out there and then realized how dangerous it was - but didn't know how to extricate himself:

The east side of the barn only gets morning sun, so all the herd luxuriates for half a day, at least when the clouds have dissipated:

The horsey boys don't get much grain anymore, but Blue's belly is still pretty big:

Remy is in fine shape, and he seems to know it. He's less playful now than he used to be, but more lovable:

Remy even loves his cow friends:

And how could I not pet and kiss a face like this?

Both Blue and Remy stick together most of the time:

And even when they're apart, they usually don't go too far:

Snowy Red Poll Girls

It's been a rugged winter so far but often the cows won't come into the barn when I call. When that happens, I sometimes just close the grain bin and walk back to the house, but other times I carry bowls of grain out to the girls who wouldn't come inside:

And every two days or so I bring them all a new hay bale. The bales are wrapped in mesh and covered in thick ice, so unwrapping them has become a major chore:

The bale feeder will stay on the east side of the barn until the weather moderates:

I move the feeder for each new bale lest it get stuck in frozen hay and ice. I learned the hard way:

And each time I go out to the barn, I look out the back door to make sure they are all OK:

There is about a 3" layer of frozen, moldy hay around each bale and I do my best to break it off before I return to the barn:

The cows eat more or less continually, stopping only to chew their cuds, a necessary step in their digestion:

And the places where the old hay bale had been become places the girls can lie down and get comfy:

During one storm they all turned their faces to the south. The wind was not coming from the north, so I never was sure why they did it. They are good at taking care of themselves, though, so I'm sure they had a good reason:

I had just dropped a new bale into the feeder, then climbed off the tractor to work on removing the frozen layer on the outside of the bale:

When I climbed back up on the tractor, sweet Gracie looked up as if to ask if maybe there was perhaps someplace warmer she could go for the winter:

Alas, we live in the north country and it gets cold in February: