blizzard '11

This past weekend we had one heck of a blizzard. It was the kind of storm that I remember happening all the time as a kid, but not in the past decade at least have we had something like this. We got about 30-40 cm of snow in 2 days and a howling wind. The drifts out in the middle of our field are hip-high and the overall average of snow is about knee-high. Walking is very difficult.Our hay bales are stacked in the middle of the field where I was worried the tractor would not be able to make it. We have an IH 766 and I left the duals on for added traction and weight. Still though, I have been stuck more than once in the past couple of days trying to dig ourselves out.

The driveway of course was drifted over and I spent 8 hours in 3 days just plowing snow to be able to function around the farm. Luckily, I was able to get the tractor to the bales and push some snow around enough to have the traction to feed the cows. I was pretty tense trying to imagine what I would do if I couldn't get the tractor out there. I suppose that is the downside of round bales...I am completely dependent on the tractor to be able to feed cows. With small squares, it wouldn't matter the weather.

Shouldn't be driving in this, but I had to. Going slow.

Anyways, we are finally dug out and now the temps are falling hard. Lows around minus 30 degrees tonight and the next few nights. Cows don't seem to mind though. See my old post from last year. Minus 30 is just ok to them!

One note about the straw bale house is that it is SO COMFORTABLE! I mean I simply cannot get over how efficient it is. We have the Heat Recovery Ventilator running fairly constant to keep the moisture down and still the little woodstove easily keeps up with the interior temperature. This morning, I got the stove going from last night's coals and within 10 minutes the entire house was closing in on 20 degrees. I shut the dampers down on the stove and it will simmer away all day keeping things toasty. It looks like it will be sunny today too, so the passive solar heat will add up quickly in the concrete floors. By later this afternoon, around supper, it is my guess that we'll have to crack a window to cool things down a bit. This is what we've done quite a few days now until we get accustomed to how to properly control the heat.

Feeding cows....during the winter months on our farm things are a little relaxed. Perhaps too relaxed. I feel lazy in the winter and I don't really like it. We still don't have a heated shop, so I cannot really spend much time outside dealing with machinery maintenance or repairs. That sort of stuff has to wait till March at the earliest.
So, now all we have to do is make sure that the stupid cattle waterer stays ice free and the cows and chickens are fed. I would comment more on our cattle waterer but I fear unwanted attention from the manufacturer should they see what I have to say about it. Suffice to say that at one point in time, I called in complete frustration to complain about the ongoing problems with a frost-free livestock waterer that was anything but frost-free and I was told something rude and hung up on. I certainly won't be buying another Nelson Waterer anytime soon. I've said too much now so I may as well just keep going...just make sure that if you are in the market for a freeze-proof waterer that you do your own extensive homework. A badly designed waterer will cost you a significant amount of money and much headache. Our waterer was designed with the heating element above the valve, immediately below the bowl...heat rises so needless to say the valve freezes. The bowl of water stays nice and liquid right up until the cows drink it...then, because the valve is frozen the bowl stays empty. Another problem we had was that the bowl of water easily splashes over when thirsty cows or horses are jostling around...the water then dripples or slops down the outside of the bowl and lands on the heating element assembly...blown heating element in about a month and a half even with the water level significantly reduced in the bowl. The waterer was installed as per the instructions. We haven't had any problems with lines to the waterer freezing or anything else...just the waterer itself. We should have simply purchased a livestock waterer from the local UFA store. They have been selling the same brand for decades...parts are easily available locally and they appear to be ok in our area because everyone has one...except us.

Now I have the waterer rigged up to work as long as the light bulb inside stays on. I installed a socket below the valve level. It works well now except when the bulb burns out from time to time as light bulbs do, but we'll limp along until we move when I can buy a proper livestock waterer.

Feeding the cows is pretty easy. As I mentioned before we are moving the feeder each time we bring a new bale. The field is getting manured up nicely and I am already cherishing the fact that I don't have to haul and spread manure this spring.