Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?

We are getting hit by the fourth snow event in two weeks and I just had to take advantage of the wet snow by building a snowman.    I don’t remember the last time I made a snowman because when it snows here my time is spent moving the snow out of the way.    My husband is especially sensitive to songs like “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”  and “Let it snow” because snow means more work.  

  

While many folks enjoyed Super Bowl XLIX in
the warmth of their homes, we were moving snow
from early in the morning until late that night. We
called it Super Snow Sunday.  We finished in time to
 enjoy the last few minutes of the game with a bowl of chili.

When we get a snow event there are several jobs that have to be done.  First the roads must be cleared so that the feedtruck and vehicles can get around.   The next job is getting the bunks clean.  We have a very nice piece of equipment that makes this job much easier than when we had to scoop them all with a shovel.  The bunk blower works well unless you get really wet snow.  Really wet snow usually melts or it has to be scooped.  

After the cattle are fed and cared for we get to work removing the snow or piling the snow that is in their pens.   The snow eventually gets hauled out so that the pens can stay dry.  When we get wet snow we keep the cement areas cleaned off and put some type of bedding material down so they have a dry place to lie down.

Steve is box scraping snow from the cement pads.

I have always been amazed at how quickly cattle adjust to weather changes.  They seem to adjust the quickest to cold weather.  Cattle are often seen running around in the snow, kicking up their heels and playing like children.   My favorite sight to see is when they are laying down soaking up the warm sun on a cold day.

Cattle enjoying a dry place to lay and sunshine.  The metal
windbreak provides additional protection from cold winds.

One of our favorite meals to enjoy on a cold day is chili soup.  I have a recipe that has gone over very well with our family and when used at large gatherings.  Here is my recipe: 

Game Day Chili

2-pounds ground beef

1-46 ounce can tomato juice

1-27 ounce can Bush’s Chili Beans

2-tablespoons chili powder

2-tablespoons onion flakes

Brown the ground beef with onion flakes. Turn crock pot on high and pour in tomato juice and beans.  Drain hamburger and add to crock pot. Sprinkle chili powder on top and stir mixture.  Leave on high for 1 hour or low for several hours. Toppings that go well are shredded cheddar cheese with crackers or corn chips.  It is a tradition in our community to serve cinnamon rolls with chili soup. 

I am joined by my husband, Steve, granddaughter, Ella,
daughter, Ginger and son-in-law, Casey for a chili supper.

My husband enjoyed my snowman made of snow, insulators, caps from spray cans and whatever else I could find around our shop.  Our dog also enjoyed time to play in the snow!   Having a playful attitude helps to relieve some of the stress weather can bring! 

 

Our Bichon, Zoey, loves the snow and after playing it looks
like she has a snow moustache! 

Do you have snow?  Doyou wanna build a snowman?  How about a nice, hot bowl of Chili?

The Gate Keeper

There are some jobs that are just easier to do with extra help.  One of those on our farm is opening and shutting gates.

I am opening a gate for Steve.

                 I was trained for the gate keeper job when I met Steve.  The feedlot Steve had at his dad’s place had wooden feedbunks that were inside the pen.   When the cattle were fed Steve had to drive inside the pen.   That meant four times on and off the tractor to feed one pen.  Since I spent the weekends at Steve’s folks I would often help with cattle chores.  I was the gate keeper during feeding.  I didn’t mind hanging out with my honey and I’m pretty sure he was glad for the help.  

Steve is driving on the cement pad and blowing straw for bedding out
so the cattle have a dry, comfortable place to lay down.

                Our feedlot has fence line bunks which is much better for the cattle and the equipment.  The cattle always have a dry place to stand where they eat.  We do put bedding in the pens and that is when it is nice to have a gate keeper.

Here is the hay buster that is behind the tractor.  In the old days we had to
pitch hay using forks.  Now we can bed the cattle so much faster and easier!

                Steve was bedding cattle and asked if I had time to open gates.  I know how cumbersome it can be to climb off the tractor, open the gate, drive in, get back out and close the gate, get back in the tractor and so on.

We feel better when our cattle are comfortable.  As you can see
they don't always choose to lay on the straw!

                There are probably more romantic things we could do together but I have to say that working side by side with Steve has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life!

Bedding Cattle

One of our feedlot jobs is bedding cattle.  When we bed cattle we create a clean and dry place for them to lay down.  Most of the time cattle can find a dry place to lay down.  When we have snow storms or rainy spells we spend time making sure the cattle are comfortable.

One of Steve's favorite pieces of equipment for cleaning cement pads is the rear end bucket.  This bucket is big and can push a lot of snow, mud, and old bedding on a pile.  In this pen you can also see there is a metal windbreak that the cattle will stand behind during a snow storm to block the wind.

Steve is going to clean this up in about 10 minutes.  The cattle are in the back playing on the pile Steve is building for them.

We usually clean several pens first then go back to put the bedding in.  We use a bale processor that can shred large bales for bedding.  This is much faster than breaking small bales apart by hand and using a pitchfork!

Steve will back into the pen and when the processor turns on it blows out shredded bedding.  We are using corn stalk bales.  Steve will go back and forth to cover an area large enough for all of the cattle to lay down.

After the cattle have sniffed around and chewed on a few pieces of stalks they will pretty quickly find a place to lay down.  If you look in the upper right hand part of the picture you will see another group of cattle laying down.  The stalks stay drier when we can put them on cement.

We will also put bedding on mud as it will give the cattle a drier place to lay and it is not as slick for them to walk around on.  These cattle are close to their finish weight so they were next in line for bedding.  Steve spent the rest of the day getting to the other pens so that by dark all 3400 head would be bedded.  We all sleep much better when we know our cattle are resting, too.