Rolled Out Another Bale

The grass in the pasture is all dead now.  The freeze burnt it to a crisp.  The cows still graze out there, clipping the "freeze-dried" grass down to the ground.  Then they come looking for hay to eat.  The cows finished off the first round bale that I had rolled out last week.  By my estimation it takes about 7 days for them to completely devour the round bale.  On the sixth evening, I go out to the bale with my pocketknife, cut the twine off and pull it out, and then I lift the hay ring off of the bale and roll it out of the way.  The cows are then able to reach the hay in the center, and are able to clean it all up. 

When a new bale is rolled out,  it is a joyous event for the cows... really for every animal in the pasture.  They come running and begin rubbing their heads on it.  In the photo below, you can see the remnants of the bale they just finished in the bottom left.  The new bale is positioned just a little bit over. 

The hay ring protects the bale from much waste.  However, it doesn't keep the goats from getting inside.  They'll climb up on top of the bale.  The chickens like to make nests in the hay, too.  We constantly find eggs in the bale and check it for nests every day.

While we're talking about the cows, I want to report on the milking.  We're still milking two cows a day - Rosie and Clarabelle, but there milk production is starting to fall off a bit. This happens over time and is a reminder that it is time for them to be bred, calve and freshen.  We enjoy fresh milk with every meal.

As I was putting milk in the refrigerator, I saw how rich our Jersey cows' milk is.  You can see a perfect illustration in the photo below of the old saying, "The cream always rises to the top!" 

Sometimes we just shake it up and drink whole milk.  Many times, Tricia skims a lot of the cream off the top for coffee, to make butter or ice cream.  A couple nights ago, she used it to make whipped cream that we ate on top of a slice of warm persimmon cake.  Talk about good!