Cold and frozen

 After a cold week we are back up to the freezing mark for a high temperature.  Time to put out another large hay bale for the cattle.  The last two hay bales were just outside of the corral so the cattle could shelter out of the wind in the loafing shed and also drink from the water trough.  

I wanted to put the next large hay bale out further in the pasture.  I want to spread the location of the manure and leftover hay around the pasture.  Putting the hay bale further out was a lot more work than I thought.  First, the feeder in the middle pasture was frozen into the ground.  I know it sounds odd, what with all the snow and the frozen ground.  But the last time I used the middle pasture feeder the temperature was in the high 30s.  And the cattle's body heat warms up the area around the feeder as they eat, and their hooves break up the ground.   And Haynes likes to push things around.   While he was in the corral he pushed the tub of mineral lick all around the corral.  And one time he pushed it out of the corral, then back into the corral.  So of course he likes to push the feeder.  I found the feeder pushed into the broken ground / mud.   Then our last cold snap re-froze that ground.   The feeder was frozen into the ground.  I had to go get and then use an axe to chop the ground around the "legs" the feeder sits on.  And some of the "legs" were in ground with rocks. And a couple of the "legs" were completely in the ground all the way up to the side of the feeder.  After a lot of effort I chopped the "legs" loose.

Here is what the "legs" look like.  This is the feeder that sits just outside the corral as I didn't have my camera when I chopped the "legs" free in the middle pasture feeder.

The other work I had to do before putting out a hay bale was to chop some ice in the river.  Due to how the river flows it seldom freezes, unless the temperature gets to the teens below zero.  This past week the coldest temperature was only 7 below.  But the river froze over.  Solid and thick.   So thick I couldn't use the long board I usually use to break the river ice.  I had to go and get a sledgehammer and a long metal bar.

I initially used the sledgehammer to break the ice.  I almost broke through the ice when the sledgehammer handle broke.  What?!!!   That doesn't happen to me.  And I'm just hitting ice.  But the ice was hard.  

I then had to just use the metal bar to chip and poke holes through the ice.  Around and around the hole to make it larger.  I also used a shovel to remove the broken ice from the water.  Anything to make it easier for the cattle to drink the water.

Then after all my work I was able to haul out a large hay bale.

Donna told me late this afternoon that the weather forecast for the second week of March has another major cold snap coming.  Great.  Just great.  Calving is suppose to start the second week of March.  Normally it is warmer when calving starts and there is less snow.  Global warming ya know. The temperatures are getting colder.