TKG Ten: Wednesday. Black Cows in the Winter Barn
There are two young cows in the barn. Steers. They are hard to see in the gloom of the winter barn, black cows are just shadows in a shot like this. But they are there and gentle and munching.
The wind is blowing and we are at 36F (2.22C) which is not too too cold but that wind made my ears ring as I hurried about while this video was made.
We had to spend the day in the city, a 90 minute drive away and so I am late starting chores and in a hurry to get the animals fed and their beds made and all the extra doors closed before it gets dark and I have to go to work off-site.
These barns are very old (this one is over 100 that I know of) and made with dry as tinder untreated timber. And the electrics are old too. Who knows where all the wires are and what they are attached to. Add tonnes of dry hay and straw and we have the potential for fire.
So I have a hard and fast rule that that ALL animals have an outside door that is always open. Only in extreme circumstances will I lock these big animals inside.
Even if it is cold. As soon as this is published I will go back out and shut the extra side doors and batten down the hatches. But I leave their main doors open.
If there is a fire I need them to be able to get out and run.
Plus generally I hate caging animals - even the birds are free range most of the year. I hate cages too - I have a tendency to rattle cages.
All we can hear today is the munching of cows - eating their hay from our fields. Maybe a few roosters! I think Quacker chimed in. The cows come and go from the barn as they have two big fields out the back that they spend the day in.
Tomorrow I have to drive back to the city super early so all that noise is me preparing the pig and chicken breakfasts to be served FAST - early.
Have a lovely evening! I will talk to you in the comments later on tonight!
Whew - what a day!
Celi
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I can relate to having the hospital far away. Ours is an hour and a half to one to the south in the city. Or an hour and a half to one in a town to the east. An appointment usually gets paired with groceries or other errands. We are glad to see home come the end of the day! Do you have any troubles letting your chickens out too early? I have to avoid dusk and dawn - foxes and raccoons like to hunt then. Argh!
It is amazing how HARD you work, especially on a day like this and tomorrow, when way extra time is demanded of you.
A barn so old and dry is such a worry. I'm glad you provide exits for all your creatures, but my worry is would they run out? I've heard of horses refusing to leave. Maybe that's an old wives' tale. I hope so. I know this sounds ridiculous, but when I was teaching, they conducted fire drills. I guess that's out of the question in your circumstances. Would the pigs run but the steers not so much?
I could see the two steers and I think FreeBee and Jude moving about in the adjacent pen. Maybe Tima. Not sure. Anyway, good luck tomorrow on your early drive to the city.