The Red Poll Ladies

Only two of the cows are pregnant, but some of the others seem to come into heat occasionally. If I can get the timing right, I'll get them artificially inseminated:

They are all healthy, even fat, and living a comfortable life:

I don't let them into the barn except to eat a bit of grain in the mornings, though on most mornings they can't be bothered to walk to the barn to get it:

Life consists of eating hay, then hanging around while it digests. Digestion includes burping up and chewing their cuds:

I go out each morning just as the sun is about to lift over the trees. I see some gorgeous skies on many mornings:

A new hay bale generates much excitement:

Winter storms are taken in stride. You can see the snow blowing past the red bodies in this photo, as well as the snow covered trees in the background:

The barn door was open because this was a morning when Amy and Rosella had come in for a bit of grain:

I hopped off the tractor to move the bale feeder, but Gracie decided that she couldn't wait to taste the new hay:

With a new bale in place, everybody was happy:

This is what winter life is about for a cow - plentiful hay and unfrozen water, the essences of life:

I'd say these ladies are living well:

Blue And Remy In December

We had a December thaw which melted almost all the snow in the pasture and made Remy happy:

Blue also liked the winter thaw, and together they roamed the pasture while looking for edible grass:

But snow soon came again, meaning their diet was just hay:

They don't seem to mind the cold and snow at all:

I pull off the frozen outer layer of each new hay bale, tossing the icy chunks, good side up, outside the hay bale feeder. Both little horses (and sometimes the cows) often seem more excited by these than by the big bale of good hay in the feeder:

Remy is looking pretty spiffy in his new, bright red halter:

And he seems immune to winter's blowing snow:

Blue moves more slowly, but he too has a brand new halter to show off:

When the snow is deep, they paw at the ground to expose the grass:

Blue stopped his pawing to watch me:

When the neighbors brought over another load of hay stems which their sheep wouldn't eat, Remy was right there to "help" and try to grab some hay. He had a full bale of fresh hay ten feet away, but stolen hay is always better:

Both little horses seem to be experiencing hoof problems again, and I am calling over the farrier to have a look and trim them. The vet may be the next call: