Banana gone

Late this afternoon I took out a small hay bale to tide the cattle over until tomorrow.  I feed the cattle near the middle pasture gate.  I have to toss the bale over the gate then go and spread the bale out so all the cattle can get some hay.  I also had a small pail of ash from my wood stove and a banana to eat later.  Once the hay was spread I would go and spread the ash elsewhere and in walking there would eat the banana.  So I don't have to go through / climb over the gate I put the ash pail and banana right next to the gate so I can reach them through the gate.

Once I spread out the hay, which doesn't take long, I went back to get the ash pail and banana.  I discovered my banana was missing.  Apparently one of the cattle reached under the gate and got the banana.  I was surprised, but I shouldn't have been.  These cattle often do something you don't expect them to.   Who would have thought a cow would like to eat a banana?

Tractor battery

My tractor battery finally died.  Last December the battery started to not work well.  One time back then when I tried to start my tractor after 4 pm I couldn't.  I ended up charging the battery and the next day the tractor started.  Off-and-on since then the battery seemed to be on its last legs when starting the tractor.  The charger helped.  The last couple of times I didn't need a battery charger to start the tractor.

Three days ago, the last time I started the tractor, it started without a charger.  I then spent three hours pushing snow away in the pasture so I could easily feed hay in the feeder to the cattle.  Then yesterday I tried to start the tractor after 4 pm again.  For some reason that appears to be a bad time for me to do so.   The tractor started right up.  Then after 30 seconds or so the tractor quit.   Like it had run out of gas.  When I tried to restart the tractor, the battery quickly went down.  Even using the battery charger I couldn't turn the motor over long enough to start the tractor.

So I put out a few small hay bales for the cattle to eat in the corral and called it a day.

This morning I took the battery in to the "Battery's Plus" store down the road.  They tested the battery and said it was no longer working, or good.  Well, I had this battery from when I bought this used tractor in August 2015; so the battery lasted a long time.

The new battery cost me $150.  It works.  Before I tried starting the tractor I filled the tank with diesel, in case why the tractor had stopped running yesterday was because it ran out of diesel.  That wasn't the reason as I now believe I had at least four gallons of diesel still in the tractor.   When I tried starting the tractor this afternoon I had to turn the engine over and over and over non-stop before the engine started. It was like the diesel was taking longer to get the engine started.  Then I was able to haul a large hay bale out to the feeder in the pasture.  The last time I did so I had finished using the second cutting hay bales from 2021.  Today I hauled out a leftover bale from 2020.  I have about a dozen of these bales left before I get to my first cutting hay bales from 2021.

Christmas gift

The Christmas gift Donna purchased for me has arrived.  It is appropriate for the ranch.

Snow

We were predicted to get 5 to 10 inches of snow Thursday and into today.  It snowed non-stop from Wednesday night/Thursday morning until late this morning.   I don't know the official snow total, but I'm sure it was more than 5 inches.

I put this hay bale out for the heifers late Thursday afternoon.  This morning it was snow covered.

Wednesday it was windy and cold.  To feed the cows (and bull) I let them into the corral to eat hay with Diamond and her calf.  I put out a large hay bale late Thursday afternoon as it was not as cold and the wind had quit when the snow started.  Since Diamond's leg has recovered, when I let the cows out of the corral to go eat from the large hay bale, I let Diamond and her calf out also.  Diamond really wanted to go out and join the other cows.  She ran out of the corral when I opened the corral gate. 

Here is Diamond's calf eating from the feeder today.

Haynes the bull walking to drink from the river.

I had to break ice again this morning.  Beulah's calf - now a cow - didn't like drinking from the icy slush and walked over and out on the frozen ice.  I was not happy about this.  I went out on the ice and herded her back to the shore.  I then worked on trying get some of the icy slush out of the water and onto the ice so the cows would have a clear drinking area.  This afternoon it warmed up to the upper 30s and  drinking area was clearer.

2021's bicycle miles

In 2020 I rode 7400 miles on my bicycle.  I planned to ride less miles in 2021.  I did.  But not by much.  In 2021 I rode 7120 miles.  I'll see how 2022 goes for bicycle miles.

River freezing

Still cold here.  Last night's low was minus twelve.  Yesterday's high was 10.  About the same today.

The river is slowly freezing over.  Each day, in the morning and again at sunset, I go the river and break the ice where the cattle drink.  If I didn't the river with this thinner layer of ice would be ice/snow covered like the rest of the river. That ice is thick enough one can walk on it.  I don't want the cattle to walk on the ice to reach the open water.  The cattle are much heavier than me. The far end, where the river is deeper and has more water flow, is where the river hasn't iced over yet.

I then try to push the pieces of ice down to the current so that the cattle can drink the water without having to work around the pieces of ice.   As you see, at the far end I have to stand on the ice to break it and get it out to the current.  The ice is thick enough I can stand on it and not break through to fall into the river.  But I'm careful.  I don't want to fall into the river.

The ice is thick enough that often in the morning I have to use a long metal crowbar to break it.  To reach further I use a long board.  As you can see the board has broken due to the tick ice.  One time when I tried to reach far with the metal crowbar the crowbar vibrated out of my hands when the ice didn't break.  The crowbar fell into the river.  I had to reach in the water up to my elbow to search and find and remove the crowbar.  Cold!!!  That is why I try to use the boards when I can.

The water is so cold the boards get ice covered.  

The barn on a cold day.

Last fence work in 2021

A while back I had mentioned that even though I wasn't posting often I was still doing stuff and was waiting to post about it when things were accomplished rather than a day-by-day post about the project.  Even though I am not done with my latest fence rebuild, the end of the year is a good time to post about what I did accomplish so far.

Earlier I had posted about the fence rebuild between the yard and pasture after it was done.   I also worked a few times late this Fall on the rebuild of the driveway fence.   I only got two sections rebuilt.  It snowed the day after I had completed the second fence section.  I worked hard that day as I knew the weather forecast of snow.

Before the start.  What got done this year.

The rest of the fence rebuild is a project for 2022.

Bad leg

One of the reasons I chose to sell cow #60 this past Fall and not Maria was that #60 would get a limp each Winter.  Or twice.  Why?  I don't know.  And I would have to put her in the corral for a while so she didn't have to walk much to eat and drink and could recover.  I thought I was over this situation since she is gone.

Yesterday when I let the cattle into the corral for hay, and to get out of the cold wind, I noticed Diamond had a bad limp in her front right leg.  She was the last to walk into the corral.   Her leg was angled out a little bit when she stood.  It looks like she may have strained a muscle in her shoulder as I don't see swelling in her leg or ankle. I don't know for sure.

This afternoon I put out a large hay bale into the pasture, as while it is cold (temperature in the single digits) no wind was blowing.  I noticed Diamond still had a limp, and while better, she needed more time to recover.  So I had to make sure she and her calf didn't get out of the corral when I opened the gate to let the cattle out.  Diamond and her calf wanted out and mooed after all the other cattle left the corral and she was still in the corral.  I put hay in the feeder by the barn for her and her calf.  Eventually she came over to eat the hay after I made an effort showing the hay to her.

It was dark by the time I was done.  I then heard mooing out in the pasture and saw a cow by the middle pasture gate.  I had closed that gate after I thought all the cattle had gone into the middle pasture to the hay bale.  This cow, the last one I let out of the corral, must have gone past the gate and further into the north pasture.  I went out and let her into the middle pasture.  I closed the gate again.   Then in the darkness I thought I may be seeing another cow halfway down the north pasture near a tree.  Yup.  I opened the gate and walked a little way to get the cow's attention.  She came and went through the gate.

Always something with cattle.

Winter really arrived

Winter really arrived this morning.  The weather forecast had predicted the cold front would arrive around 4 am.  At 10 am it hadn't arrived.  No snow.  Wind not too bad.  Maybe the forecast was wrong.   I went out and checked on the heifers in the south part of the corral.  After 10:30 am the wind picked up and snow started to fall when I was checking on the heifers.  The cold front arrived!  I decided to let the rest of the cattle come into the main corral (the heifers are still separated in the south corral). The cattle had eaten all of their large hay bale in the pasture.  I hadn't fed the cattle from the long wooden feeder yet this Winter so I had to put the boards in the floor of the long wooden feeder.  I then put small bales of hay out for the cattle in that and the north barn feeder. 

As the wind really started to blow, and it was cold and predicted to get colder, the cattle can stay in the corral and loafing shed for now.  Tomorrow is predicted to be better and then I'll probably put out a large hay bale then and let the cattle back out to the pasture.

Yesterday's frosting

Yesterday I had a post with a photo showing the frost on cattle hair on a fence wire.  The trees also were frosted.  Today the high temperature was in the low 40s (yay!) and the frost is gone.

Photos from yesterday.

The tree without needles is a western larch (tamarack) tree.  It loses its needles over Winter.

I didn't think our recent weather has been that cold, even if the overnight low temperatures sometimes were in the single digits.  But there is some ice on the river.  Usually it had to be pretty cold to get ice on the river.

Next week I'll see what happens with ice.  The high temperatures are predicted to be in the single digits.

Pushing snow for the cattle

One of the heifers must have still been drinking from her mother as she was mooing for her mother quite often today.  The mother would come to the closest point in the middle pasture to moo back - usually when she saw me near the gate.  The calf was born last February so past time to be weaned.  The mother is Speckles, who is an exceptional mother, and one who didn't 'kick her calf off her udder'.  The other three heifers must have been "kicked off by their mothers" as they didn't make any noise calling for their mothers, nor did their mothers call for them.

Time to put out a large hay bale for the cows.   I also put out a large hay bale for the heifers in the corral so I don't have to put out a small hay bale each day for them.

Since I had the tractor started I decided to put the bucket on and push some snow away in the pasture.  I don't like to put hay on the snow and every time I put out a large hay bale I would move the feeder so one area is not overdone in manure.  I would shovel snow away from where I pushed the feeder to its new spot.  As we are getting snow most days now the shoveling is taking longer to do.   I used the tractor to clean a larger area that should be good for several weeks of movement.  I also cleared a route out to the feeder.  Makes it easier for me to walk out there even though the snow is not that deep.

Mama standing in the cleared area.

We had frost today.  In the photo below that is cow hair on the barb wire that got frosted.

Haynes the bull and cow #110.

Haynes the bull

Diamond wasn't walking on the cleared path.  Her calf was.  But when the calf saw me trying to take her photo she got off the path and ran through the snow by her mother.

Calf in heat already

Just before dark today I went out to check on the feeder and then give the cattle a few small hay bales.  We had snow today so I shoveled the snow from the ground in an area as I don't like putting hay on snow for the cattle to eat.  While doing so I noticed the bull was very interested in one of the calves.  She appeared to be in heat and he wanted to mount her.  She wouldn't stand when he tried to mount her.  She wasn't in standing heat, but getting close I think.  Still she often would raise her tail, so maybe she is in standing heat and was just serviced.  Another time another cow mounted the calf in heat and rode her a distance before I put a stop to it.

So I wanted to separate her and the other calves (other than Diamond's calf as she is still too young for breeding).  Before I put out the hay I tried to get the calves through the gate and into the north pasture so they could go to the corral.  The cows wanted to go through the gate, and Maria briefly got through the gate before I herded her back.  The calves did not want to go anywhere near the gate much less through the gate.  I tried and tried to get them through.

Wait.  What would Donna say?

Get some hay to convince the calves.

So I did.  And I fairly quickly got the calves through the gate. It was getting dark now so I had to be careful not to also let the bull or a smaller cow through the gate.   After the calves ate the little bit of hay they walked to the corral and then I got them into the south part of the corral and to the hay I had put out for them in the feeder next to the barn.  That's where the calves will stay for now.  In case one of them is still drinking from her mother they will also be weaned as it is past time to stop drinking from their mother.

After I put out a few small bales for the cows to eat I then put water in the water trough.   There was some water in the trough from earlier this Fall and now the water was a complete block of ice.  The trough was 2/3's full.  I got an axe and chipped out some ice.  Then I filled the rest of the trough with water.

I knew I would have to separate the calves from the bull at some point but I thought I could wait until January.  Now if the calf had already been bred she could have her calf next September.  I'll see if I got them separated in time.

Hay bale for the cattle

I put out a large hay bale for the cattle this morning.

Because all the cattle can't eat from the feeder at the same time, when I initially put out a hay bale I also put some of the hay into three extra piles on the ground so all the cattle can eat hay in the beginning.  Later they can take turns at the feeder.

Tree / shrub trimming near the house

The end of November and the beginning of December I spent time trimming the trees and shrubs that are right next to the house.  Two emerald green arborvitae trees grow in front of the house.  I have a western arborvitae shrub in front of the house between the two emerald green arborvitae trees.  Also there is a another variety of evergreen (juniper?) shrub between the south emerald green arborvitae tree and the western arborvitae shrub. This variety doesn't grow tall.  South of the house is another evergreen variety tree.  I don't know this one's name.  This grows tall, like the emerald green arborvitae trees.

Arborvitae trees video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmsSAEueQ1I

Here are some old posts from back when I trimmed these trees and shrubs over the years.  You can see I had really cut down the height originally.

https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2009/11/shrubbery-then-and-now.html

https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2009/11/shrubbery.html 

https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-trimming.html

Now it is time to trim these trees and shrubs again.  I had planned to do this a few years ago but in 2019 I had my accident.  In 2020 I waited too late, and it snowed.  I stand on the house roof to trim the trees and I don't want to stand on a snow-covered house roof.  One would think this should only take an afternoon or day to do, but it takes longer for me.  I would only spend an hour to hour and a half each day to trim.  I trimmed the trees down to the 2009 level.  That was where the main trunks had been cut.  I wanted to cut the trees a little shorter.   So I spent time cutting them (the trunks) down about another foot in height.   And then I spent time touching up my cuts and also making sure each tree seemed to be the same height.  A day or so after I finished my tree and shrub trimmings, it snowed.

Standing on the ground the tree still looks too tall.  Standing on the roof, it seems ok.  I may trim this tree lower next year.  I tend not to want to trim too much from the trees each year to overdo the trimming and really set the tree back.  The same for the shrub in front of the house.