Body slam

The cattle love second cutting alfalfa hay.  They really love it.  They are going through a large hay bale in 1 2/3 days.  They don't need to be eating that much hay.  And I need my hay to last all Winter.  So I am back to feeding the cattle twice a day with what I can fill in my pickup's bed. The second cutting is relatively short so I can break a large hay bale apart by hand.  That's not to say it is without some effort.

After a day of feeding the cattle like this they have caught on to the new feeding routine.  Tonight they all came rather quickly to the metal hay feeder where I toss most of the hay.  Because not all of the cattle can eat from the feeder at the same time I put a half dozen small piles of hay in the area of the feeder so the bullied cattle can go to eat some hay before it is gone.  I found I have to put this hay on the ground after I put hay in the feeder.  Otherwise the bullies monopolize the hay piles, and once that is gone take over the feeder.

Again, the cattle catch on quick.  I had just tossed the first pile on the ground when two cows came running around the pickup.  I hadn't seen the cows and had turned and started back to the pickup when Mama and I collided.  She didn't realize I was turning and moving and I didn't see her. With the snowy slippery ground she couldn't turn quick enough or stop in time.  We hit each other pretty hard knocking each other off course.  Mama got up and spun around and headed to the hay.  Her intent wasn't to run into me.  My ankle is a touch sore and I feel like I ran into a 1000+ pound animal.  But I'm alright.  That's not to say I wasn't upset. I ended up yelling at Mama to be more careful.

Another side effect of getting hay into the pickup is that I can't back completely into the hayshed and close the gate.  The four heifers in pasture are fascinated with my loading hay into the pickup and I have to close the gates against the pickup so they don't slip into the hayshed.  The heifers have hay in their feeder but now that hay is not the newest hay.