Our creek froze over solid for the first time since we've lived here. Choices: chop ice in two separate pastures or heat water tanks. The water tank method won this round. We are finally seeing open spaces in the creek again! Yay!
Chris got actual gates installed across the drive so we aren't having to McGyver things with a blizzard nipping at our heels. This means we can open up the machine shed to the larger herd in dire emergencies....
While we got the hay we wanted this year (for the most part) at a lower price than last year - hallelujah - some of the bales came in well over the weight rating for our little tractor. This is as high as it goes. These bales get slowly hauled to the feeding area, then the bale feeder is place over the bale. It works. Grateful for the hay......
Apparently some of the girls think that the hay is greener on the other side. We don't get it, but Wild Child had her head pretty well stuck between the boards.... We were able to get her out, but odds are that we'll be seeing this scene again.
Love this picture - and my husband - and this little heifer! Frostbite is doing well and she still comes right over for her scratches. We've had her and her momma in the corral with access to the stalls for warmth since she's still very young. She burrows down into the straw and seems quite content. Like her momma, she'll always prefer the "good life" in the corral to the feed yourself life in the pasture!
Today is vet day. Four dogs, four heifers, a cow and a soon to be steer will be riding along today.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteBeen following your blog for a while now. I can really sympathise about the cold, it has got down to -38 here a few weeks ago. Today -23. We bought a small floating stock tank heater. I didn't think it would work in the really cold weather but actually it worked extremely well.
I was surprised how much water the cows go through in the cold weather, I suppose it is due to eating nothing but dry hay now. We have 3 Dexters and a Highland. The Highland has a bull calf that was fathered by a Texas Longhorn, he should have interesting horns when he grows up!
One question I have is do you feed your cows much grain when it is cold out? Cold days I have been giving them rolled oats with molasses and beet pulp or rolled barley/ oats with molasses poured on top. About 4 pounds each. They love eating it of course and the calves are gaining quite well and the lactating moms have not lost any weight either.
Dave, in Alberta.
Hi Dave - We actually don't feed grain at all. We depend on good hay to keep the cows in good condition through the winter. They have free choice from the feeders and always come out of the winter looking about as good as they do going into winter. The only time grain appears here is a few months before and during show season for just the show animals. Show feed definitely makes a big difference in the coat quality on our show girls! And the tank heaters are the most wonderful invention ever.... Do your cows pull the floaters out of the tanks for fun?
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI expected the calves to mess around with the stock tank heater because they generally are so curious but so far they have left it alone. We are carefull with the grain as we were warned not to let them get too fat but two of the Dexters we got this spring were pretty skinny. Our plan is to cross the Dexter with the Highland. A cross like that should be ideal for Alberta weather. We will see how it turns out.
Dave