Moving cattle

Today I moved the cattle from Jim's pasture over to my south pasture. It wasn't hard at all. Actually the cattle started the move without me. Mid afternoon I went out to the north pasture to remove my gopher traps and found 18 of the herd in my corral around the barn. Okay.... I guess they had looped around the other side of the river and came to my pasture. Usually they spend the afternoon heat along the river and in the shade of the trees.

Nine cattle were in Jim's pasture mooing as they wanted to be where the action was. I did a quick walk around Jim's pasture to check the river front and seeing no more cattle opened the gate to my pasture. This was not the shortest distance to my corral so the cattle wouldn't move to the gate until I herded them through it.

After I closed the gate three stragglers, one of whom was "T-bone", came up from the river bottom. I reopened the gate for them.

I had to move the salt blocks so I went to get a wheelbarrow. The cattle were all in the corral and not pleased to not find water in the water trough nor salt blocks where they remembered them being. They tipped one water trough over to show their displeasure.

They gathered round and mooed at me as I passed through the corral. As I left the corral to get the salt blocks one of them came outside the corral to the north pasture and stood and mooed at me.

"I want water. I want salt. I want service and some attention over here waiter!"

I know, I know.

I retrieved the salt blocks and took them and the wood container to the middle pasture. The cattle followed me. I dropped the container off under a pine tree and continued on to the south pasture picking up another container and dropping it off in the south pasture. I put two blocks in this container and two other blocks in another container already in the pasture. The cattle all followed me, though a few wanted to be next to me or run ahead.

The cattle followed me everywhere. I was able to get back to the middle pasture and close the gate before they could follow me through the gate. They stood outside the gate in dismay. The cattle just wanted to be with me. There must be something in the air today as several women later showed a strong interest in me at the concert tonight.

As you can see in the photo the south pasture still has plenty of grass. I now need to figure out when I will let the cattle into the hayfield. I need to have the cattle on bloat blocks for 48 hours just before they enter the hayfield and start eating the alfalfa. The initial rush of alfalfa can cause them to bloat and die, else run up an expensive vet bill as the vet would have to cut them open to release the fluid and gas from bloating.