Eden Shale Update- February

January 7th, 2025

7:30 AM
I spend the first 45 minutes of the day trying to get the door of my truck open. A quarter inch of ice has the cracks of the door filled in tight and the plastic door handle does not stand a chance of prying it open.  It’s a slow process in the winter.

9:17 AM
I’m still 25 miles away from the farm and the road conditions have deteriorated quickly.  Owen county received about 8 inches of snow but hardly any ice at all.  This section of roadway apparently was plowed early in the storm and hasn’t received any attention since. It’s a slow process in the winter.

10:33 AM
Arrive at the farm to find Greg getting the cows in the barn. They have found the weak fence and helped themselves to the hay in the hoop barns.  They will now get sorted into two groups and moved to the two hay self feeders at the back of the farm. But first, we have to do the morning chores.

11:45 AM
Finished busting ice open for all the groups to have water. All cattle are accounted for and doing well in the cold snowy conditions. Inventory shows we will need to feed 7 rolls of hay today. That will come later after we sort cows and move heifers out of the paddocks. We decide to eat an early lunch while we are near the house, before we go to the far side of the farm to move the heifers (this turned out the be a wise choice).

​12:34 PM
We head to the paddocks where 31 of our first and second calf heifers have been grazing stockpiled fescue. We need to gather them and move them to the heifer maternity barn where they will start eating hay and will calve in about 45 days. At first we do not see any animals. Once located, a quick count shows we are 7 head short. We find the last 7 head in the absolute farthest paddock from where they need to go. All 22 paddock gates will need to be closed. The 7 head have decided they like their spot down out of the weather and do not want to leave their paddock. Greg and I trek down the steep paddock and walk them up onto the lane.  This takes at least a half hour of stomping and sliding on the steep snow covered ground in wet, heavy Carhartt gear. We decided we have had our cardio for the day, but the heifers are on the alley and can start their mile trek to the maternity pasture.

2:41 PM
The heifers have made their way to a water pen that was left open and they will need pushed out of it and one more gate opened so they can get to the maternity barn. With the gates switched, we head out of the pasture when suddenly there is a bang from under the front of the truck. We are unsure of what has broken, but there is no longer any 4-wheel drive to pull us along and we are stuck.  We abandon the farm truck and hike back to the house in heavy Carhartt gear. More cardio. We fetch the tractor and pull the truck to the house. It’s not much help in 2-wheel drive in the deep snow. We will finish our day using the tractor. It’s a slow process in the winter.

4:10 PM
The cows in the barn still need sorted and moved to their hay feeding barns. Greg gets them sorted and I move the first group back the farm lane to the smaller self hay feeder.  Greg brings the second group to the large bale feeder. We still have to fix the weak spot in the fence so everything stays where they should.

5:45 PM
It has gotten dark and we still need to feed three bales to the calves. Luckily all the lights on the tractor work! But sharing the tractor cab with a roll of barbed wire, an ice chopping axe and a manure fork slow the process of getting in and out to get gates and cut string.

6:25 PM
I take off all the wet, heavy Carhartt clothes, throw them in the back seat, and begin the slick two hour drive home.  We have accomplished the days chores and all the cows are fed and comfortable. But it’s a slow process in the winter!

Eden Shale heifers