In front of the storm we had above normal temperatures for a few days, and rain. Friday I pushed a lot of water off the tarp where it had pooled. I should have let it freeze. By midnight the wind switched from the south to the north and the temperature started to drop. Sometime in the morning the wind picked up. At 2 am Daisy wanted to go outside. That didn't last long. At 7 am she again wanted outside. By then the wind was howling and the snow was blowing. I opened the door and she looked, wrinkled her nose and turned away. She meowed to complain about the weather but there was nothing I could do. So she ended up using her litter box inside the house.
The house windows this morning...
In regards to the cattle, the timing of the storm sucked. By the end of Friday the cows had eaten down their big hay bale in the feeder, and if there was no storm I would have pulled a new bale into the corral today. Before midnight I put out a small bale of hay each for the calves and the cows. In the morning the calves still had plenty of hay but the cows needed more hay. So I got them a couple of small bales and put the bales in the two wooden feeders.
The wind was howling and the snow was thick. The temperature was 4 F and the ground was hard and a little slick due to the frozen water and mud. The 6 inches of snow from earlier in the week? The warm up Thursday and Friday melted all the snow. (So much for my two days of shoveling the driveway and yard!) The melted snow and frozen ground meant water standing everywhere. As I put the first bale of hay in the feeder the cattle quickly came over. One cow slipped and fell down. It took several tries before her feet stopped slipping and she could stand back up.
A few days ago another cow developed a limp. I first noticed it the night I separated the calves into the other part of the corral. I don't see a reason for the limp and am watching her. I suspect another cow may have rammed her and she twisted her leg. This cow slowly limped over for the hay.
The calves had plenty of hay but they and all the cows were covered in snow.
The storm is supposed to move out tonight and cold - below zero - temperatures settle in after the storm leaves.
The strong wind blew back the tarp. The old railroad rails and some of the other metal posts were blown off the tarp. The rest of the boards, pipes and water on the tarp held the rest of the tarp in place. Maybe I should have left all the water on the tarp.
And lastly... (I'm old enough the remember all these - and other - pronouncements.)
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