Smartlic and hay

For the first time in over a week I went uptown to get groceries and stuff.  The main 'stuff' was a tub of Smartlic for the cattle.  Smartlic has a number of minerals for cattle.  While the hay I have is good and should have enough minerals, the Flathead Valley is know to be selenium deficint.  I've heard horror stories of calf problems or deaths due to a selenium deficincy.  So I thought I would try some Smartlic as a Winter supplement.

The tub weighs 250 lbs so it is a bit heavy to lift so I just tried to control its descent to the ground and avoid dropping it on my foot.

For now I put the tub in with the calves and cow with a sore leg.  The calves immediately came over to check out the tub.  When I let the cows back into the corral after bringing in another hay bale, several cows in the other side of the corral came right over and stood looking at the tub through the fence.

 
The cow with the sore leg actually ate most of the grain this morning.  Why now?  Who knows.   Whenever a calf came over to the bowl of grain the cow would push them away.


While I was uptown getting groceries the cattle left the corral.  So I closed the gate and brought in another hay bale.  This bale took some work.   When it last snowed we didn't have any wind so the snow level was consistent.  But due to the shade from the bales the snow level was deeper in front of the bales.  I had to do some shoveling for traction for the pickup tires and to avoid making the bale plow through the snow.

A problem was the pallet under this bale was smaller.  And the bale was wedged against the other bales.  The pallet started to come out from under the bale.  I added a second chain around the bale to keep things together.

I had to make a few running starts to get the bale and pallet moving.  But once I got moving I wouldn't stop.  The pickup's four wheels were spinning and the pickup was sliding sideways as I pulled the bale.  But I keep going, didn't crash into the stack of railroad ties, and got the bale to the 'spot' in the corral.

The cattle were pretty patient waiting outside the corral other that Beulah occasionally bellowing to remind me to keep working and moving.

I took some of the remainder hay from the old bale and tossed it over the corral fence so the cow with the sore leg could lay on it instead of the snow covered ground.  The hay/straw I had tossed in their part of the corral days ago is soggy and covered with manure already.  The cow and the calves have icy stomach fur right now.

Pickup's manure tracks on the fresh snow.