Some more daily chores

 As I said in my last post, we feed everyday with the tractor. I usually start with all the dogs, then chickens, go to the barn and feed, treat and care for the animals there. Then I go and feed the horses, feed the bulls and rams and then the cows are next and finally  the main flock of sheep. I am feeding bales that were made on our ranch, most of these are stacked however one field still has them spread out over the field. So I drive there and collect the bales I need to feed.

My view on the way to collect a bale of alfalfa hay:

The return trip with zero visibility:


 (Yes, the windows  need to be washed)
After cutting off the net wrap on the bales, I need Lads' help to keep the sheep away from the tractor.
The sheep never have figured out that a tractor is a deadly machine.
They will run under the tractor,
in front of the wheels and
start eating the underside of the bale.
The do not realise that they are easily squashed, run over and flattened by the object that feeds them.

So, it is his duty,

to clear a route and keep the woollies at bay, while I set the bale down and then unroll the bale.
Most days I let the sheep out of the pasture and they can wonder around and go and graze somewhere else while feeding however the last few days the snow has melted and everything is so icy, they do do feel like leaving the pasture and I do not want to push them to move over the ice.
So, this means feeding and watching out for the sheep at the same time!



The sheep get a number of bales and twice a week I bed them down with straw.


Some sheep always want to be "king of the castle"
and like to climb up onto the last bit of a rolled bale that is left.

Once the sheep are done, I will usually move some more bales, or add coolant to the tractor, sort cows, feed cats, weigh lambs, roll grain, clean dog kennels,  do bookkeeping  or other miscellaneous and constant work around the place.
Worse of all, there is always skirt work to do!