Manure clean

A week or two ago I cleaned much of the manure from the cattle's loafing shed.  Cow #20 was laying under the barn's lean-to so I didn't clean there.  Since then she often would lay there when I wanted to clean that area.  Yesterday I shoveled the snow to the ground in a small area of the south corral as another spot for the calves to lay.   This morning cow #20 laid there.  So I cleaned under the barn's lean-to as the temperature was just above freezing and I could shovel the manure.

Lots of manure was there.  Mixed with a little bit of the straw left that I had laid there when it was cold last month.  What a mucky mess.   With a rake and a shovel I was able to clean it out.  You can see the pile of manure outside the area.  I wasn't able to clean all the way to the closest post as that area was still frozen.

Then in the afternoon I spread out two straw bales in this area.  The heifer calves came to check out what I was doing and nibbled on some of the straw.  This time instead of eating most of it they laid on it.  I am happy they have a dry and warm place to lay.   And clean - though that probably won't last too long.

The cows prefer to lay under the rain shadows of the trees in the north pasture.  Unless the wind is blowing strong and/or it is very cold, then they will lay in the loafing shed.  All the cows, except Sugar, were out in the north pasture when I laid the straw for the heifers.  I closed the corral gate to keep them out there. I didn't mind that Sugar stayed in the corral with me.

Two months before the first calf is due and it is time to put out a tub of Vitalix mineral supplement for the cows to lick.   As you can see above I have had a tub out for the heifers ever since I put them in the corral.  The tubs weigh 250 pounds so I had to roll the tub out of the barn and over to the loafing shed.  I prefer to keep snow and water out of the tubs so that is why I placed the tub under the loafing shed roof.

 The other cows - except Mama - push Sugar around when they eat.  Mama - the smallest - is the lowest on the totem pole.  While Sugar is not the second smallest in size, she is the second lowest on the totem pole.  So while the cows were locked out of the corral for the afternoon I decided to push some of the loose straw in the barn's hayloft out and to the ground below for Sugar to munch on.

What a nice cow.  Can you believe that her beautiful calf sold for 51 cents pound less at auction last Fall?!