The Rural Voice, 2002-12, Page 34GETTING
READY FOR
WINTER
Bringing cattle into the
barn was a time of stress for
farmer and animal alike
By Arnold Mathers
Stalk* 4
4
When Dad started farming in
the late thirties, cattle were
tied in the barn for the
winter.
Individual stalls with tie chains
were used. Really prosperous dairy
farmers had new fangled stanchions for
their cows. These were a metal lever
device that closed just tight enough
around the cows' neck to keep them
in but allow a lot of freedom.
The day in the fall when the cattle
were brought into the barn and tied
required the help of everyone
available. Often neighbours helped
each other with the task. It took a
couple of people to herd the cattle
into the stalls and another to slip the
chain around their neck and fasten it.
The cattle soon got used to being
tied and settled down for the winter.
The cows were the easiest to tie
because they were accustomed to
going to their same stall twice a day
at milking time. Dad would untie the
cows once a week and let them
wander around their part of the barn
for exercise and they would return to
their own stall at feeding time. After
one bad experience dad was reluctant
to let the steers loose. He had to call
his brother and his dad to come and
help him get them tied again.
Most farmers had a loose pen for
the calves. As the calves were born
during the winter they would be
weaned and penned together until
spring. This was the forerunner of the
feedlot of today.
The problem with a loose pen was
that it was harder to clean out than
the stalls. Behind the stalls was a
gutter and one could push the shovel
down the gutter once or twice a day
and put ahe manure into a
wheelbarrow to wheel it out to the
pile in the yard. As the pile grew a
plank was laid up the pile and the
wheelbarrow was pushed up the pile
to make it. higher, rather than
spreading ou t all over the yard. More
than once the wheelbarrow slipped
off the plank. and the driver tipped the
Toad prematurely. During the winter
30 THE RURAL VOICE i
the pile froze and stepping off the
plank did not result in poo in the
rubber boot as it did in the fall or
spring.
The loose pen was usually cleaned
on Saturday. When I grew a bit older
I discovered that the cleaning of the
loose pens always coincided with the
day I was home from school. My job
as a little helper was to open and
close the gate for dad to get the
wheelbarrow in and out of the pen
without letting any calves out.
The winter was a constant routine
of feed'em and clean'em. Dad
usually started feeding and milking
about 6:00 a.m. Most farmers took a
break for breakfast around eight
o'clock then returned to the barn to
clean the stables, feed the pigs and
chickens, and pull the hay out of the
mow for the cattle. The whole routine
took at least all morning.
Once a week Dad took a sleigh
load of sacks of grain four miles to
Wingham to the chopping mill to get
feed made for the cattle. Dad would