We have warmed back up to normal temperatures. Finally! Our high temperature today was 33 F degrees. Since my tractor didn't start earlier due to the cold temperatures and the diesel jelling I have been feeding the cows small hay bales twice a day. I also fed the cows a smaller large hay bale I had made when I had baler problems this past August. That hay bale was a third of the size of a large bale. It was too large to lift so I unwrapped it from twine and used a pitchfork to load the hay into my pickup's bed. I had two heaping pickup loads of hay, or one day of hay for the cows.
This afternoon I used the tractor's priming pump to make sure fuel was up to the engine and then tried to start the engine. After turning the engine over for a bit the tractor started. Hurray! I shoveled a spot to place a large hay bale outside the corral and then hauled one out there.
Before I let the cattle out of the corral to the hay bale I used my pitchfork to carry - and carry - and carry the rest of the hay from the calves feeder in the south corral over to the cow's wooden feeders in the main corral. There was about a day's worth of hay left for them to eat, or a small meal for the cows. I did this so I could give the calves a new large bale today since the tractor had started. Two hay bales in one day instead of two days. Who knows what the weather could be like tomorrow or Wednesday. The cows ate up all the hay I carried for them before I let them out of the corral to the large hay bale.
Since the temperature was around freezing I was able to shovel the manure out of the loafing shed. That took a while as there was lots of manure from the few days the cattle sheltered in there due to the cold.
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