It is. Down into the mid-twenties last night, making it a very pleasant thing to turn on the electric heater this morning. It is tiny and it labors mightily to take the edge off the cold in the kitchen. Just now it is my best friend.
Not much of great interest happening here. We milk the cows. We feed the cows. Then we milk the cows and feed the cows. Somewhere in between the boss cleans the barn and fixes a seemingly never ending string of broken water bowls.
Feeding them with wheelbarrows is getting old fast, but on the other hand it is getting the fat old lady into shape, being wheel-barrower in chief and all.
There is a big wheel barrow. There is a little wheel barrow.
The boss brings down a bucket load of haylage with the skid steer and dumps half into them. He takes the big one and I take the little one and we distribute largess to the ladies.
Then he dumps in the other half of the load and I feed out both while he gets another bucket full.. It is heavy. There are ramps. There are cow heads reaching and slamming and grabbing on all the corners and ramps as everybody wants theirs NOW.
However, I find a very positive side to me doing at least some of the feeding. I actually know all the cows, who is dry, who is milking hard, which are still growing heifers that need a little extra, and I adjust their dinners accordingly.
Scotty gets a great big pile.....
And Lemmie, and Camry, and Blitz and Mandy....Not so much Zinnia, who is almost dry and about the size of a pick up truck. I KNOW that when they get their morning feed outdoors she stomps around and grabs more than her share.
I won't say that this has increased milk production, but they were dropping really fast and now the slide has stopped and they are holding. Works for me.
I'll bet those cows know YOUR name, too. At least I'm sure they can sense how much you care for them. Thank you for your vivid word-pictures of how it is in the dairy barn.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I feed and do as much possible with a team of horses is because they are my exercise machine. I know I WILL use them. Pretty sure I wouldn't use on of them ones that sets in the house and collects odd bits of clothes and such. Have you got one of the new fangled double wheel, wheel barrows? Bet they'd be nice in some situations as they wouldn't be so tippy. And also when you feed by hand, as you said, you do see much more and are aware of how the stock is doing. Like the difference between driving a vehicle around the pasture to look at cattle and doing it ahorseback.
ReplyDeleteIt's very windy here VERY!!! A snow storm is blowing in and we have to leave in the morning for a Wedding two states away.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand...I'm sure they all know and LOVE you as you are the FOOD wagon!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
I had to laugh....the Google ad at the bottom of your entry in my reader was for forklift training. Sounds much like here.....do it and do it again the next day.
ReplyDeleteWW, lol, they do know who brings the goodies and they sure do let us know when they want them. Thanks for your kind words
ReplyDeleteJB, same here. We do have a double wheeler and one regular. I like the big one in some ways. It holds a lot! On the other hand it is harder for someone as short as I am to steer and dump and when the cows grab at it for some reason they can tip it over quicker.It sure is true that the more time you spend with them, the better you know them
Linda, sorry for the wind. I hate the wind! It picked up my heavy metal chair the other day and blew it right across the yard! Hope your trip goes okay!
LInda, sometimes it seems hard to make what goes on interesting., Same old same old, day after day, punctuated by assorted disasters. Right now we have a kid and a dog with Lyme Disease. What a godawful year for ticks!
You can handle wheelbarrows, cows and word combos:
ReplyDelete" . .largess to the ladies."
Love it :) And I envy those muscles you're building.