9 am as I prepared to leave for the coop meeting I saw that Rose just had her calf. Both were fine.
12:30 pm when I returned I gave the cattle two more hay bales. I discovered Panda also had a calf that morning. Both were fine.
One heifer and one bull calf. Donna helped me band the little bull calf.
All the cattle were locked in the corral except for Panda and her newborn calf. Donna handled the gates as I brought out another large hay bale to the pasture.
Now that I only have two calves yet to be born, and it is a little over three weeks since the first birth which means anytime now a cow will come back into heat, it is time to separate Buddy the Bull from the cows.
First I had to open the corral panels to the larger pasture, and using the tractor, retrieve the second hay feeder. Once the panels were back in place Donna and I let Mama and her calf out of the south corral. I didn't want to let the rest of the cows and Buddy out the corral yet. Donna handled the main corral gate and I handled the south corral gate and we got Mama and her calf out of the corral and into the pasture.
Then we got Buddy separated from the cows and into the south pasture by himself. I had hay in the south corral feeder by the barn and Buddy walked over there. Then using the tractor I carried the feeder into the south corral. Then I moved a large hay bale into the south corral. Since Buddy can get excited when he is hungry and I bring hay, I decided to put a large bale in the south corral just for him. That will last him awhile.
Everything (the move of Mama, the move of Buddy, the two calf births) went very smooth.
Once Mama was in the pasture she and her calf went around checking everything out. She had the afternoon to get used to her new location. At 7 pm I let the rest of the cattle out of the corral so they could eat from the large hay bale.
It wasn't five minutes later and Mama and #7 were fighting. Mama is smaller but she was holding her own quite well. I noticed a corral board was loose so I went and got a hammer and re-nailed the board. When I was done Mama and another black cow were fighting. Mama again was holding her own against the larger cow.
Late afternoon I spent some hour digging some more around another tree stump. Later when walking back from retrieving my cap from where I was digging around a tree stump I saw Mama and #90's calves running across the pasture together. Mama was running in hot pursuit and behind Mama was #90. #90 caught up to Mama and they began fighting.
*sigh*
Today - Sunday - they got it out of their system. No fighting that I know of. Mama's calf - Clyde - is having fun playing with the other calves and Mama is trying to chill out. In the evening I noticed most of the herd running around the pasture. The calves were running in a group together and following them were their mothers running after them. Around and around.
These mothers need to chill out.
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| Mama and #90 fighting. |
After Buddy was put in the south corral he started rubbing against the barn. He is trying to get rid of his winter fur. I scratched him to help him out. Donna gave me a rake to use once my arms got tired. Buddy loves being scratched.
Here is a 47 second video of Buddy in the corral.
https://youtu.be/DWf7B6AMMrE
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