A bullish start to the day
It is the time of year when we feed our cows hay. They are still let out into the fields every day to graze if they so desire, but since we’ve had several heavy frosts already, there is very little nutritional value remaining for them.
We feed mostly round bales. A thousand pounds apiece, we use our tractor to take them out. We put out four or five at a time, and we use a myriad of feeders. Some hold multiple bales, and we try to fill them as full as possible each time we feed. Occasionally, one of the bale rings doesn’t seat all the way back to the ground for a day or two, until the cows have eaten enough of the hay inside to allow it to slide over and cover it completely.
My guys fed the cows in the middle of last week. Several bales were provided to the herd. Par usual, one bale ring stayed lifted off the ground with its two bales inside. We thought nothing of it.
Saturday morning, we left our son to sleep in and went to grab some breakfast in town. As we cruised past our feed area, I thought I saw a bale ring moving. Deciding it sounded weird, I said nothing.
My husband must have seen it, too, because he slowed the car down and turned around.
“Something didn’t look right,” he said.
“Yeah, I saw something, too,” I replied.
When we got back to the feed area, we could no longer see the bale ring at all from the car. Now knowing that something was odd, we got out and really inspected the area.
Suddenly, I saw the feeder moving again.
“What is that?” I asked, pointing.
“I think it’s the bull,” he said, laughing.
Indeed, the bull was inside a round bale ring, shuffling up to another feeder to eat from it.
The only thing we can figure is that he must have stepped under the ring when it was popped up over the double bales inside of it and must have been inside again when the ring slid down to seat completely to the ground.
Trapped, he must have stuck his head through the slots and, wearing the feeder like a giant collar, shuffled to the water trough to drink and to another feeder to eat.
Breakfast on hold, we went back to the house to change footwear, grabbed our son, and headed back to the pen. Together, we released the bull from his cage. He pressed his head into my son’s chest for a moment before walking away, as if to say thank you for letting him out. He walked over to a feeder and went back to eating, this time without the added weight around his neck.
Then, since order had been restored, we went on to get our own breakfast, still laughing when we arrived.