Recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that I must have a knack for telling when cattle are happy and when they aren’t. And as for these cattle, they were happy! (Hence the title!)
So, (now that we’ve got that whole thing sorted out!) Several days ago, someone decided it was the perfect day for a cattle drive – Complete with dogs, pick-ups, tied-off roads, and an atv. The roads were tied off, people assigned specific jobs, and all with one goal in mind: to get the cattle from one place to the other safely! From where I was sitting, it seemed to go pretty well. And of course, I had to take some pictures throughout!
Part of the reason we moved the cattle was so when the time came to preg-test the gals, we would be ready to put them in pens and move them through the squeeze chute easily. (At least I think that was it!)
So the plan (from what I understood!) was that the gate was opened and the cattle were to follow the feed truck to their new home while the four-wheeler and one of the dogs would clean up the rear or keep all of the cattle moving along and from straying too much.
The cattle were supposed to be behind the pick-up… Following us to their new home. But that wasn’t always the case! An adventurous one would decide to shove its way to the front (leading the pick-up) and soon that would ensue in several others following suit until half of the cattle were leading us! (Not quite what we had in mind!)
Besides the fresh air, sounds of cattle bellowing and cool weather, there was also a pretty sky to add to the day!
That’s right. Good girl, following us nice and easy around the curve..
And a few more of the lovely ladies..
Now we’re picking up more speed.. Not the greatest of ideas!
After moving all of the cattle and getting them settled into their respective pens/pastures, the bulls were loaded up and taken to a pasture specifically set aside as their “bachelor pad”. Right after the last one was let out, the biggest two decided to figure out who was going to be the “top dog”.
Or is it “top bull”?
Head cheese?
I don’t know! That’s for them to decide, and by the time we were pulling out the gate they’d already figured out the pecking order.
Pecking order?
Now we’re talking about chickens???
I don’t know about you, but now I’m thoroughly confused!
Several days after moving all of the cattle around, it was time to figure out who needed a baby shower thrown for them and who didn’t! We gathered the heifers and cows up, and started working them through the chute one by one. After the first few went through, we all got our rhyme down and figured out who did what.
– Move them up the alleyway.
– Let them walk into the chute and then shut the tailgate quickly before the next cow noses her way in too! (Yes, they do that! Way too much!)
– Vet then checks to see if the cow is a soon-to-be mother or not, a couple other little things are done and then she’s let out and the next one steps up!
– (My job here!) Mark down tag number, whether they’re bred or not and how far along the little mother-to-be is!
And that’s pretty much how it went for about 4 and 1/2 hours. With the occasional little incident thrown in to make it a little more humorous!
Like a cow deciding she didn’t want to go into the chute next and then standing on her back legs, twisting around, and doing a complete 180 in the alleyway! That was an unusual sight.
Will you PLEASE, move your hiney elsewhere???
Would you believe we had three cows decide they wanted to share the chute at the same time? That didn’t work!
So at this point, I had to quit taking pictures and get back to work… Likewise, I now need to head to the kitchen to work on something!
Until next time,
Ashleigh
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