We live in a rural setting, with a nice grass pasture. Two ponds are in the pasture, and this summer the rain has been wonderful -- so this made it an even nicer summer resort for cattle guests. At the beginning of June, Mr. Fixit's brother brought us 10 bred cows. We were quite excited to receive bred cows, because last year's 7 open heifers created too much of an allure for the neighboring bull.
So, the ladies settled in nicely. They were all due to calf in mid to late August. Not a problem though, because Mr. Fixit's brother, Farmer "F" was coming to collect them around August 1. So, these girls just needed to eat and relax their summer days away.
Farmer "F" was coming to collect the girls on August 15. Well, one lady had her baby -- early -- so we were now at 11. Farmer "F" came to collect 5 of the ladies on the 15th. We penned them all (with a little grain treat) and sorted off the 5 closest to calving for the trip home. The remaining 5 could be collected on the 18th.
Mr. Fixit continued providing daily grain, but #96 would NOT be swayed. She knew something was up, and would not go into the pen. Farmer "F" returned, and we still could not get her penned. Yikes. So, Farmer "F" left the trailer with instructions to call him, once we had all 5 gathered. *Sigh*
It is now September, and the trailer still remains in our yard. The boys have enjoyed exploring it! Now we have a total of 8 bovines in our pasture. Five mommas (or mommas to be) and 3 babies.
The new plan is to allow the ladies to calve, and then try (again) to gather all sometime later this month. I told Mr. Fixit that the "put out the food, and hope they all come in at the same time plan" does not appear to be working. I think we need some additional panels and people to fence off a small area. Then, we can work together to drive them to the pen. While Mr. Fixit and I both may not agree on a plan to "catch" these girls, we both agree on one thing: #96 will NEVER be on our guest list again!
No comments:
Post a Comment