by Jan Fielden
The animals at the Red Oak Ranch went wild today! It was cold, they were hungry, and we were bringing food into their areas! They were fed previously on Friday and usually we would wait until Monday to feed again. With the cold weather moving in we decided to give them some hay to tide them over another day and to keep them warm. We decided to give them square bales instead of getting the tractor out and going that route.
We always give square bales to the Yearling Herd but not to the Middle Herd. The poor Back Herd got their extra bale on Friday so they were missing out today. We loaded eight bales into the back of the Colonel’s truck. What a trick that was! The bales for some reason seem to be getting heavier and harder to manage. We notice it year after year! Finally the eight bales were loaded, just two bales for the Middle Herd and six bales for the Yearling Herd. Even though there are more cows in the Middle Herd, they get three big bales three times a week. With some grass coming in they are grazing more and more just like the other herds are doing.
We got the truck in, loaded the bales, and took off with the herd in hot pursuit. Acting as if they hadn’t been fed all winter they were trying to grab it off the tail gate faster than I could pitch it out to them! When it was all gone we headed down to the Yearlings with the Middle Herd still in pursuit of us as if we forgot the other six bales were to go to them. But we made it to the Horse Pasture on our way to the Yearling Pasture. We knew the gate was open but they were chasing us and one cow tried to squeeze through between the truck and the gate. I just closed my eyes. As soon as they got some hay thrown out to them, they calmed down and things were pretty peaceful except for Sundance. Another story for another day. That’s the Red Oak Ranch for you.
