Catscratch House and Habitat build

Is there footage of getting the heifer out of the feeder? It’s amazing what cattle can their heads stuck in
 
Is there footage of getting the heifer out of the feeder? It’s amazing what cattle can their heads stuck in
Nope! The oldest boy went with me so that if I got hurt he could drag me out. He spent most of his time too focused on what I was doing and what the bull was doing behind us to get his phone out and take any pics.
 
How did you get the heifer out? Did you end up having to cut a section off the feeder?

Dealing with issues like that would take the fun out of farming or ranching pretty quickly.

Do you ever have issues with those longhorns hooking and injuring or killing another cow with their horns?
 
How did you get the heifer out? Did you end up having to cut a section off the feeder?

Dealing with issues like that would take the fun out of farming or ranching pretty quickly.

Do you ever have issues with those longhorns hooking and injuring or killing another cow with their horns?

Her rack is wider than the hole. She had to turn her head sideways, bring her head/neck down, then twist the base of her skull towards the ground (snout up). It's a very unnatural position and one that she was not willing to do on her own. I spent the better part of an hour inside that ring... with her alternating trying to hook me with a horn, trying to back out, and pushing forward in an effort to run over me. Eventually she was in good enough position that I got a boot on the point of her top horn and kicked her down enough that she got out.

They don't both each other unless there are cubes on the ground, then they know what they've got and will get their way.
 
I bet it was entertaining to watch! LOL Even better when you some how get one inside the bale ring that has its head through the ring, and insists that is the only way out! We chased one around a pasture a long time once. Not even horned, just too "hard headed" to realize it didnt get in the bale ring by going through a small hole.
 
^^^ Lol!
 
Well it’s good to hear that everyone came out of it safely.
 
You guys get any more of this storm? We got about 1/2” of rain and then some unknown amount of freezing rain and then some unknown amount of snow. we lost power sometime in the night. My dad said he woke up around 2 this morning and it was already off. Just came back on around noon. The snow is drifting bad. Couple drifts in the yard are a few feet deep. Picnic table has about 4” on it. Hard to tell exactly what it was. I melted 4 popcorn bowls of snow on the gas stove for dog water and it was about a half gallon. Pretty wet and heavy for as much as it is drifting.


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Slow rain all day yesterday. Turned to blizzard snow early morning. Got up around 4am and it was whiteout. Upper 20's and windy right now. Probably got an inch of snow that's blowing around a lot. Sucks you lost power! Sounds like it's hit you guys much harder than it has us. Have you looked at the forecast for the weekend? Might get nipply out!
 
Haha! Yeah, our high for Sunday says -1 now.


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Thanks! I'm a little bias but I think we have the best view in KS!
If memory serves me correctly, you took us along for your journey when building your place on the now defunct, long-forgotten XXXX forum. Love the view!
 
If memory serves me correctly, you took us along for your journey when building your place on the now defunct, long-forgotten XXXX forum. Love the view!
Thabks! I think I might have done a build thread on that forum. I lost a lot when they deleted it. Gained a couple of better forums because of it though.
 
Nearest town tore out all their plumbing a couple of winters ago and I was approached about being the dumping spot for the rubble they dug out. I said hell yes, and if you put it by the pond I won't charge ya! Used it to address some erosion problems and make 2 points for fishing. Screenshot_20240121_143044_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20240121_143031_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20240121_142651_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20240121_142642_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20240121_142351_Gallery.jpg
 
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Also ended up with all the concrete man-hole tubes. Bigger and heavier than they look. Hard to work with, but I wanted them for habitat. The recent cold spell froze the ice as thick as I've ever seen it. Decided to role them out and let them melt into location. First one shattered when it first hit the ice. Second one broke in half when I tried to pull it out of the pile and landed on my foot. Pretty sore and swollen. 3rd one rolled out onto the ice effortlessly. Kind of like a bowling ball going down the lane. Thought it might go to far. Sounded kind of neat on the ice. Watched until it slowed, turned to hobble back up to the pile and get another and heard something... the damn thing caught the wind and was rolling back! Lol, made it all the way back to bank. I just stood watching and giggling until it was at my feet. By now I'm considering life choices, but the rest went smoothly.Screenshot_20240121_142010_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20240121_142001_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20240121_142104_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20240121_142047_Gallery.jpg
 
Those should be some good fish structure. Dang you must have some serious ice, that is a lot of weight where they are clustered out on the ice. I have no idea how thick it is here but I wouldn't think it would be more than 5-6".
 
Lots of bubble froze in the ice so I could see how thick it was. I walked out a little ways. It's at least 6-8 inches for the first 20 ft or so. I didn't venture out any further. Surprised that it was that thick.
 
Not sure why, but walking on ice on a lake makes me very uneasy. I have no problem when I know it is shallow enough that I can touch if I fell through. I had a friend up in Nebraska go ice fishing today, way out on a big lake up there. He caught a bunch of fish, but I kept hoping in my mind that he hadn't fell through somewhere. I am sure he had told people where he was going, but if you fall in you don't have long to survive.
 
Not sure why, but walking on ice on a lake makes me very uneasy. I have no problem when I know it is shallow enough that I can touch if I fell through. I had a friend up in Nebraska go ice fishing today, way out on a big lake up there. He caught a bunch of fish, but I kept hoping in my mind that he hadn't fell through somewhere. I am sure he had told people where he was going, but if you fall in you don't have long to survive.
I'm the same way. Uber careful on ice and damn near paranoid. Like you said, probably less than 2 minutes to get out or you're dead. Not worth the chance to step on a thin spot or something freaky happens.
 
I ice fished this weekend in west central IL. 8" of ice with some snow on it. Wouldn't haven't guessed that much as it wasn't popping and cracking like thick ice. Ice will get rotten this week.
 
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