Two large hay bales for the cattle

Last week the cattle went through the first hay bale in three days.  Fast.  But I hope that was because there wasn't a lot of grass before the snow and then the cold snowy weather temporarily increased their food intake.

For the last four or so days I have been feeding the cattle small bales from the barn.  That way I get the cattle into the corral so I then can move large hay bales out in the pasture without the cattle getting in the way.  And I wanted to use up some hay from the barn so I have some room inside the barn.  That's why I fed the cattle for more than just one day.

But Tuesday it was time to go back to the large hay bales.  With the small bales I don't feed them just once or twice a day, but four times a day.  I spread the amount out over four times to closer mimic their eating habits when grazing grass, which is somewhat like: eat for several hours, chew cud for several hours, then eat for several hours.  I don't mind feeding the cattle four times a day... for a short while.  Weeks of that does get old.

When in the corral waiting for their next feeding the cattle also tried to get to the weedy hay.   They reached over the front barrier and somehow they moved the pallet in front and started to chew on a few bales.  So each day I would toss a bale of weedy hay on the ground in the loafing shed for them to lay on.  Even so they ate much of the hay and weeds - more than I expected.  The weedy bales smelled bad from the wormwood/sage weeds.

So Tuesday afternoon, while the cattle were occupied by a few fresh bales of hay, I drove the tractor through the corral to get to the large bales and then take them to the pasture.

I plugged the tractor's engine heater in a few hours before I started the tractor and the tractor started right up.  The last time I started the tractor the temperature was in the 30s and I had to turn the diesel engine over a few times before the tractor would start.

I forgot to mention that the last time I used the tractor's bale spear to move the large hay bale I was rushing to get it done before dark and I didn't put the bale spear on correctly as the spear wasn't hooked on top. I sheared the two cotter pines that secure the spear onto the tractor.  I was able to move the bale once I hooked the spear on correctly.  On Black Friday I bought two new cotter pins at Ace Hardware.  This time I made sure I put the bale spear on correctly.  Then I put in the two new cotter pins to hold the spear in place.

The following photos shows the cotter pins in the bale spear when the spear is not attached to the tractor.

Cotter pin

Note: the rod between the loader's arms is suppose to be slightly bent.  Supposedly this way the rod provides stability between the arms without being rigid.


I put two large hay bales out in the north pasture.  I then assembled the new bale feeder for the second bale.  These feeders allow 12 cattle to eat at one time.  With 14 cattle now no one has to wait their turn.  And since I have some cows that do not want to eat next to another cow, two feeders should cut down on fights.

I positioned the feeders in the same area of the pasture but some distance apart.  In the evening when I let the cattle out - including Rose from her part of the corral - to eat from the feeders most all of them followed their trail in the snow to the first feeder.  But shortly one cow noticed the second feeder and she ran over to the new feeder all excited.  Then another cow saw the second feeder and she ran over.  I quit watching, but knowing these cows they will run from one feeder to another so as to "not miss out on the good hay". They were over it by Wednesday morning once they realized both bales have the same type of hay.  In the corral with its two wooden feeders Buddy, Beulah and a few other cows - the larger ones - tend to stay at one feeder and not run between them.


Since I have extra wooden pallets I set the bales on them to keep the bales off the ground and dry.

The two hay bales