Nope, this is the cow tea party. Check out the photo above, of Broadway lunging into the manger after hay, rather than waiting three seconds while I fork it in to her.
What do you see wrong with the photo....besides the whole feet in the manger thing that is?
Bingo, you nailed it! The water bowl she shares with Dalkeith is full of hay. Actually, that is just a tiny bit of hay. If I don't clean that thing out twice a day, with my cold, bare, hands, one or the other of them will pack it so full of little bits of hay that I don't know how they drink.
Becky thinks it's Dal, but we really never see them doing it. It isn't accidentally dropped there either. No it is soundly crushed into the bottom of the bowl, layer upon layer, until if I don't get at it quickly enough I drag out a football-sized lump of wet, soggy, stems and bits. I clean it either when I'm feeding them or when I'm milking them.
I don't know why they do it though.
Either the culprit likes to dunk their food, like a kid with milk and a doughnut.
Or they want to rinse their food before they eat it....like a raccoon.
Or they are just making tea. Either way, I can't wait until they go to pasture in the spring....
We have a cat that likes to put her toys into the water bowl. Fortunately they are plastic, so don't mess up the water! Maybe putting the hay in raises the water level more to their liking. Or, they just like hay flavored water!
ReplyDeleteI go for the tea steeping explanation. My friend Jonna does something similar every morning. But she tidies up after herself:)
ReplyDeleteBoredom, just plain boredom. Makes you have to do something for them...and it's a hoot! MOOOOOOOOO
ReplyDeleteLinda
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Maybe its like the professional eaters who dip their hot dog buns in water to make it easier to eat. Our cows did the same thing.
ReplyDeleteZach
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Maybe it's some kind of pre-cudding...?
ReplyDeleteterrysaga, that cat must be hilarious. i don't really mind cleaning the water bowl, as these are two of my very favorite cows. It just seems so odd.
ReplyDeleteCathy, thank goodness! lol
Linda, it is funny. And they are so good about not hurting me when I clean it.
Zach, that is really funny! And maybe you are right.
June, I don't know....some days I find it funny... and other days, not so much. lol