Yet more winter chores....
Last night we got about 4 inches of snow. This means that, although it hasn't been cold enough for the ponds to freeze over and need chopping, it means that we have to shovel the snow out of the feed bunks before putting the feed in.
This can be hazardous because you have any number of anxious bovines behind you crowding and shoving and pushing around to get to the bunks; whether you have put feed in there or not. They figure that since you are messing around in there you MUST have put something in there for them. If you are so lucky as to have charged into the corral and closed the gate before they came up you are doing well.
Fortunately this morning the open heifers weren't up at their corral yet when I was shoveling the snow from the bunks, I was able to close the gate on the bull heifer corral before they showed up and the dry cows (there are only 8 of them instead of 27 or 28 and 17 respectively of the others) aren't that big of a problem.
The neat thing about when it snows is seeing all the tracks and trying to interpret them; squirrel, rabbit, deer...etc. Sometimes you get canine tracks but it is beyond me to figure whether it is coyote or the neighbors' dogs visiting. A year or so ago I got a free subscription to Field and Stream magazine and I was able to pick up some interesting tracking info from one issue. (I had to wade through quite a few advertisements for Viagra and other such ilk that supposedly MUST help the male of the human species while they are at deer camp swilling beer, falling out of deer stands or shooting themselves in the foot, otherwise why would such ads be in there, right?) Anyway, I learned that buck deer toe out and does toe in. Bobcat tracks do not show claws and coyote tracks do show claws.
Also; you have heard it said not to eat yellow snow. I might add that when you are on a dairy; skip the green snow as well. It's not pistachio flavored, that's for sure!
This can be hazardous because you have any number of anxious bovines behind you crowding and shoving and pushing around to get to the bunks; whether you have put feed in there or not. They figure that since you are messing around in there you MUST have put something in there for them. If you are so lucky as to have charged into the corral and closed the gate before they came up you are doing well.
Fortunately this morning the open heifers weren't up at their corral yet when I was shoveling the snow from the bunks, I was able to close the gate on the bull heifer corral before they showed up and the dry cows (there are only 8 of them instead of 27 or 28 and 17 respectively of the others) aren't that big of a problem.
The neat thing about when it snows is seeing all the tracks and trying to interpret them; squirrel, rabbit, deer...etc. Sometimes you get canine tracks but it is beyond me to figure whether it is coyote or the neighbors' dogs visiting. A year or so ago I got a free subscription to Field and Stream magazine and I was able to pick up some interesting tracking info from one issue. (I had to wade through quite a few advertisements for Viagra and other such ilk that supposedly MUST help the male of the human species while they are at deer camp swilling beer, falling out of deer stands or shooting themselves in the foot, otherwise why would such ads be in there, right?) Anyway, I learned that buck deer toe out and does toe in. Bobcat tracks do not show claws and coyote tracks do show claws.
Also; you have heard it said not to eat yellow snow. I might add that when you are on a dairy; skip the green snow as well. It's not pistachio flavored, that's for sure!
Comments
I take your word on the green snow!
and thanks for stoping and the prayers for Daniel, they wrote an update one him ! if ya want to check it out!
My best to Daniel and his ongoing ordeal!