Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss To all those caring for livestock in this weather

God bless you.

The cows, horses, and I have made it through the worst of this okay. I hope everything went well for you too.

This stuff is why I sold all the cows and horses.

I got lucky on Saturday. Checked the Ritchie fountain just before the fill valve locked completely up with ice.
Was able to get it running again by slopping the water out of the basin and letting it refill. Did that three times and
it was back to 100% flow. Three horses don't drink enough to keep a fountain open when the temps drop below zero and stay there.

I was certainly pleased that I didn't have to get out to check cows and chop ice. I don't miss that stuff even a little bit.

Just drove across Kansas returning home from a job.

There were lots of cowboys out chopping ice, or filling smaller troughs from a big water tank on the back of a flat-bed pickup.

Our warm up starts today. The cows, horses, and cowboys should be happy about that!

I did talk to one rancher that wandered onto our job site. He lost one cow during the cold snap, but he thought it probably had a pre-existing respiratory problem. (He didn't say what type.)

Grew up chopping ice. Didn't seem like a big deal back then. Several decades later spent mostly in an office and winters seem much colder now for some reason.

I spent my first 18 years on an irrigated cotton, milo, wheat, alfalfa farm. That’s work.

Too old to do that again. I’m going to cut down a bunch of cedars to put in my pond. Cover for small bluegills from the water turkeys that have cleaned me out again.Actually, I’m going to sit on a 4 wheeler and direct grandsons what to do. I told them no beer until the job is finished. They said ok but that has to go both ways. They aren’t about to work their butts off and watch me drink beer. Don’t know what’s wrong with this younger generation.

So drink rum and coke instead. LOL

Actually haven’t had a beer in a year or so. That 25 days I spent in ICU a year or so ago, for some reason, killed my desire for a beer. It’s still in the fridge at home and country but just no desire for it. Maybe someday I’ll come to my senses but not yet.