Decisions, decisions!

If you are a regular follower of my blips you will recognise this mob as our neighbours - a small herd of Irish Dexters. I feature them again because they are fascinating and we are learning a lot from observing them and from talking to their owner.
I was concerned at one time about the herd being out of doors all winter, with a bit of ignorant anthropomorphism fuelling an anxiety that they would suffer in the cold and the wet, as I certainly would.
Not so! My niece Sarah keeps a pedigree herd of Belted Galloways not far from here in Derbyshire. Sarah says that putting cattle in closed shelter can actually cause them great distress from overheating, and that they are actually happier and more comfortable out of doors - with one proviso, namely that they need access to a water supply.
In the case of our neighbouring herd there is a small spring in an adjacent field, but this has to be supplemented by two water tankers which are regularly replenished by one of our other neighbours. Both the spring and the tankers are vulnerable to freezing, however, and so if there were a cold spell the herd would have to be moved elsewhere to sheds and water supply.
The huge bales that are pictured are to supplement the rather thin supply of fresh grass in winter, and here the guys are gathered having a morning snack. There are three bales of hay here, each weighing about a ton, and this should last them about ten days or so - which gives some idea of how the cattle can demolish a food supply!!
They have spotted me and are weighing up the odds of my carrying stale bread - which they adore and which I and others nearby feed to them on a regular basis. The cattle are very sharp-eyed and intelligent and are sizing me up, watching my movements intensely.