Cows on grass. Bull stuck.

Last evening I let the cows out to grass.  The grass in the back half of my yard.  First I had to cattle-proof the yard.  I split the yard in half.  That is because the cattle prefer the front half grass over the middle part grass that is under the box elder trees. I think the grass tastes different from under the trees.  So I have the cattle eat the front half grass last. Otherwise they eat and eat the front half and try to avoid the grass under the box elder trees.

I put up temporary corral panels to split the yard in half.  I also protect the flowers, leafy trees and patio area.  I didn't start early therefore didn't get done until dark.  The last so many hours the cattle mooed at me to let them out of the corral as I worked on protecting the yard.

After I opened the corral gate to let the cattle out, I went to check on the cattle still in the south part of the corral and the hay feeder area.  I herded the few cows and calves out.  Fritz the bull... Well... he was standing in and out of the metal feeder.  A couple of cows like to stand on the hay in the feeder when eating hay.  Fritz must have decided to copy those cows.  The hay was now all gone and Fritz was now stuck.

A few years ago a replacement heifer did the same thing and got stuck and I had to help her get unstuck.  The way I did it then was to encourage the heifer to completely go into the feeder as she didn't want to backup,  She was then able to get out of the feeder on her own.  I tried to encourage Fritz to completely go into the feeder but he wouldn't move.  I tried to encourage him to back out of the feeder but he wouldn't move.  And I couldn't push him as he is too big for me to move.

I spent over a half hour trying to get Fritz to move.  It was now almost 11 pm and now dark.  I let Fritz be.  Maybe he will figure it out on his own.  I went to bed.  I woke up at 6 am and went out to check on Fritz.  He was still standing there in the same position.  At least 7 hours of standing there.  He was mooing lowly for me to help him as all night he had to stand and watch the cows eat grass in my backyard.

In the daylight I could see he couldn't lift his legs high enough to get over the side of the feeder.  I got a wooden pallet and a number of boards.  I put the pallet down and then worked on getting him to step one leg at a time on the pallet.  Then a level of boards, one for each leg.  Then another level of boards.  Then a third level.  To get him to step on the boards I would have to grab a leg and get him to lift the leg up.  One leg at a time.  And I move slow and watched that he wouldn't try to kick me.  He never did.

With the third level of boards I tried to get Fritz to step over the feeder side.  By now he didn't want to move much.  I helped him lift his leg all the way up and then over the side of the feeder.  I then tried to get Fritz to step into the feeder with his other leg.  Yet again I had to lift his leg up and over while pushing against his backside to squeeze his hips through the upright rungs.

Finally Fritz was in the feeder.  He could move around.  The feeder is an old, repaired feeder.  The distance between some rungs were a little wider than others.  I tried to guide Fritz.  He found a spot and got out of the feeder on his own.  Finally.  Yay!

At 6 am a turkey was watching over things in the corral.

Where Fritz was stuck overnight.

In the feeder now looking for a way out of the feeder.

Success!  Now to find the cows.

When I thought of taking this photo I had already taken over half of the boards back to my stack of boards.

Since the hay bale in this part of the corral takes longer for the bull or replacement heifers to eat I place the hay bale on several wooden pallets.  The pallet in the previous photo survived the Winter.  The two pallets in the photo below didn't.

There was a lot more grass out here last night at 10 pm.  The view after 7 am.

There was still grass available but now the cows - and Fritz here - had to work at eating the grass.  I wanted to watch Fritz to make sure he was okay after being stuck in the feeder.  He was.

Of course Beulah had to stick her head through a fence.  I did more work to further cattle proof the area.

Lower lilac bush leaves.  Overnight the cows had pushed the fence around and ate over half the leaves.  I did more work to protect the rest of the leaves.

The bottom rail was already damaged.  Overnight the cows completely broke the board in an effort to reach the grass in the hayfield.  Another thing for me to fix another day.

I had chicken-wire fencing to protect this English walnut tree's lower branches.  Of course the cows pushed and moved the fencing and got some of the leaves.

Since I had trimmed these box elder trees last year, this year the trunks sprouted lots of new branches.  I didn't mind the cows eating these branches and leaves.  Less for me to trim later. 

Once I got up after noon and had breakfast I noticed Panada was in heat.  Standing heat.   She wanted some action by Fritz.  Poor Fritz.  After standing all night and not eating he wanted to rest.  Panda was not having that.  Often when Fritz mounted Panda she would then take a step or two forward due to his weight.  Since Fritz is a little smaller he needs her to not move so he can get it done.  When he took a rest sometimes Panda would try to mount Fritz.  Often Fritz would lick her back hip while he rested up for the next mount so Panda would stand still and wouldn't try to mount Fritz. It took Fritz an hour or two to satisfy Panda.   After that they went their own ways.  Fritz to eat some more grass.  Panda stood for a little while with her tail stuck out a bit.

I spent part of the afternoon cattle proofing the front half of the yard.  Not as much work was needed.  Some cattle are waiting for me to be done.

The dividing line.  Last night at 10 pm the grass was the same on each side of the fence.

Time to let the cattle out into the front half of the yard.  It is 4 pm.

Last night at 10 pm this area was thick with tall grass.  Not much for me to mow now with a lawnmower.

By dark tonight I noticed the cattle had spent lot more time laying and chewing their cud.  With their bellies full from last night the cattle were eating a little less.  The front half may last more than 18 hours for the cattle to eat.  We'll see.

Cows with bull

Yesterday morning I let the cows into the bull's part of the corral so they can eat his hay.  This is the last hay bale for the Spring, and after the bale is eaten they will be let out into the yard to eat grass.   I knew the cows would have eaten their hay bale by morning so when I woke up at 7 am I went outside to let the cows into the bull's part of the corral.  Then I went back to sleep as 7 am is early for me.

The calves loved being in the new part of the corral.  They ran around like wildfire and would jump and kick and twist and turn as they raced each other.  The bull immediately found that cow 20 was in heat.  He wanted to mount her.  She wasn't in standing heat and just wanted to eat some hay.   Around and around she moved to eat hay and the bull followed.  Cow 20 is a big cow.  While Fritz the bull has been getting bigger and taller this Spring, he still is smaller than cow 20.  But Fritz stood tall.  Where there is a will there is a way.  In the afternoon I saw that Fritz was eating on one side of the hay bale and cow 20 was eating on the other side.  I saw cow 20 had her tail sticking out a little bit as she ate.  Not normal when cows eat.  I think the tail stuck out slightly since the bull recently bred her.

The hay bale before I let the cows into this part of the corral.

One calf had decided to climb into the wooden feeder to pick at the leftover grass I had placed in there the evening before.

Photos of Fritz in action.

Once the calves settled down from running around, a number of them stuck their head through the fence to eat grass in the hayfield.

A few videos of the cattle.

Cows to hay bale.   23 seconds long.  https://youtu.be/GHk4SCDVMgg

Bull checking cow 20 out.   The camera's battery was getting low so I didn't get a video of him trying to mount the cow.  14 seconds long.   https://youtu.be/I9PdyQt-bzk

Ditch grass all mowed

This afternoon I got all the grass of what I wanted to mow in the ditch across the road done.  I got two more wheelbarrow loads of grass.  The cattle loved it.  No cows stepped on my foot today.

Ditch grass mowed

Several days left before the cattle are let out onto grass.  Today I decided to mow the grass in some of the ditch outside the ranch.    Last year I mowed the ditch grass, then raked it and fed it to the cattle.  This year I remembered my lawn mower has a bag attachment to catch the grass.  I never used it before.  Some ways easier.  Some ways not.  I don't have to rake the mowed grass.  But as tall as the grass is I had to stop quite a number of times and empty the bag.  And the grass filled now-heavy bag make pushing the lawn mower harder.  About four bags to fill the wheelbarrow.  I filled the wheelbarrow nine or ten times - I lost count.

The cattle loved the grass. They were acting like the grass was a drug.  I figured that after several wheelbarrows of grass they would get satisfied.  Nope.   I had to act fast as they would knock the wheelbarrow over by going for the grass.  Several times a cow half-climbed into the wooden feeder to reach the grass as I wasn't putting it into the feeder fast enough and spreading it out.   And one time a cow was so anxious to eat the grass she stepped on my right foot her front left hoof.  I had to hit her repeatedly with my hands on her side to get her to move and step off my foot.  A big cow but surprisingly my foot is fine.

 

And I mowed the ditch across the road and near my mailbox.  I didn't quite get it done before dark, and therefore didn't get a photo of it.  It was a larger area to mow.

Bull. Wooden feeder.

This morning Fritz put his head through the corral fence.  First to scratch an inch on the back of his neck.  Then to reach down to eat some grass.

Time to put out another large hay bale for the cows.  First I had to put the wooden floor back into the wooden feeder.  With it being drier lately the boards have shrunk a little bit. So I was able to put in another small board to make the floor tight.  Only a handful of days left before the cattle are let out on grass.  I think the floor will hold until then.

Lilacs, Walnut trees, turkeys

Hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend.

Lilacs are blooming now.

English walnut trees are leafing out.  Of the two trees, here is the younger tree.

This is the older tree that went through a few rough Winters. It is coming back again this year.

The hayfield grass is growing good.  It is making it harder for the wild turkeys to move around it.  There are three turkeys that can be seen.  Mainly just their heads sticking up.

Bull puts his head through a fence

Recently I saw Fritz the bull push his head through a fence by the water trough while a cow was drinking.  Fritz wanted to check the cow out to see if she needed some of his loving.  This fence has wire attached to it to stop the cattle from putting their head through the fence.  Fritz pushed the wire back.  I was concerned since the wire has pointed ends and I didn't want the wire ends to poke Fritz's head.  The wire didn't when Fritz withdrew his head.  To fix this problem I added some more wire to this wire and wrapped it around a pole to hold the wire in place.  So far this is working.   We are only days away from me letting Fritz join the ladies.