The Cows Moo-ve In

Friday afternoon the cows arrived. 

I'd been in and out all afternoon with the laundry and various chores.  The horses were grazing, stopping now and then to stare northward.  When I walked up the road to get the mail I could hear cows bawling and the sound of engines from our closest neighbors.  By the time I'd walked back to the house and processed the next batch of clothes from washer to basket to line, the cow noises were getting louder and the horses had abandoned grazing in favor of standing sentry looking up the hill.

Sure enough, when I walked down to where I could get a view of from their vantage, here came J (yes, I know, another one) and his Kubota runabout leading a trail of complaining bovines.  Most of the older cows have wintered here before, and once they'd passed the gate from the next field up they picked up the pace and trotted ahead of him down to the big tank.  There was much splashing, banging and thudding as they all pushed and shoved for first dibs on a drink.  The level on the tank, even large as it is dropped alarmingly fast.  I hooked the hose to the hydrant - it has too much pressure behind it to leave a float on, water just blows out the top - and watched a couple cows climb right into the tank.

Through all the commotion I'd been keeping a weather eye on the horses to see how they'd react, but they were more concerned with tracking J's progress on the runabout than they were with worry about the moo-vers-in now sharing their fenceline.  J drove around to check the gates on the far side of the south pasture, then stopped back up to chat for a minute. 

He's got some late/early(?) calves starting to drop, and with the forecast set for winter-like temps and maybe snow to arrive at long last, he figured they'd better get the cows moved.  There were 8 or so new calves mixed in with the rest.  He still had a few stragglers making their way along, a couple with newbies, so he was heading back up to see where they'd gotten to.  The cows will have about 6 big fields and pastures that are all opened up for them, but they'll be watering here and when the weather gets bad they'll bring in bales for them down here in the trees where it's more sheltered.  It makes a great place for calving.

The horses have all seen cows, but the cows had never seen a horse before. 

I picked up grain yesterday not because any of them need the extra calories, but because I wanted a tasty treat to teach them to come when I holler.  Pre-cow invasion I'd set up four feeding spots in the corral and dribbled a half-cup or so of sweetfeed in each spot.  Then I called the horses.  They didn't come, which wasn't a big surprise.  But I went out, brought them in and let them eat, then go back out a couple times during the afternoon.  I had enough daylight left and the cow-tank was still filling, so I figured I might as well give it another go.  About 15 cows lined up along the corral panels - including the bull - and blew snot at the horses.  The ponies ignored them.  Good ponies! 

They got a drink and then trailed back out again.  I left them out overnight, since I'd had them in the corral during my airport run.  When I checked them at sunrise this morning I decided to see if they'd figured out "Come on" yet.  They were dozing midway down the fence, but ears pricked when I called.  By the time I had the last half-cup distributed I could hear hoofbeats heading my way, and the first nose, Thunder's, was rounding the barn corner in very short order.  Smart ponies!  Nothing like food to encourage that mental click - lol!

Cat 1

Cat 2

I guess it had to happen sometime...

Mother Nature decided to send winter to visit us.  (I say visit, because Sunday it's supposed to be 50' again.)

Don't know what made me decide to check on the horses early today, but I was very glad I did.  Got to the farm to find that G had moved in a new bale for the horses, but the horses were nowhere to be seen.  No tracks in the new snow, either.

So I grabbed the halters and set off in search of the missing.  Sure enough, the gate out into the big cow pasture wasn't closed.

Do you see what I see?

That's right...

Ponies amid the cows

Stinkers. 

The cows said, "Ooh!  A scary person!"

The horses decided that the cows had the right idea.  It didn't help that the wind was blowing straight at me, making it hard for them to hear me call.

Run away!

Thankfully, the pony part of the equation stopped almost immediately, Sunny whinnied at me, and then the two of them headed back my way.  I caught Sunny first - the cows quick-stepped it for parts distant, and Thunder contemplated going with them.  Not good.  But he didn't really want to get too far from Sunny and I collared him before he'd had a chance to get far.

A prancing pony in each hand I started back - they were plenty wired, and I had my hands full. All the practice the three of us have had leading together this year paid off today for sure - if they weren't used to leading on either side and respectful about keeping slack in the leadropes, I'd have lost them a couple of times.  Complicating matters, the new snow covered over the many holes in the cow pasture.  Thunder and I managed to avoid them all, but Sunny stumbled into a shallow one and came up in a poof! of snow.  No damage done, thank goodness!

Back through the open panel into their pasture, another exercise in horse-juggling since we couldn't all walk through at once.  No place to secure them and the electric gate was down, too - so it was on through their pasture and up to the top lot.  I locked them in and they had a drink and a chance to scavenge the morning's windfall corn from the base of the big grain bin while I went back and secured the pass-through and restrung the electric gate.  Once that was done, I let them out again and they circled a few times while I cut the twine off their new bale.  They must have been tired from their adventure, because they settled down in a sheltered spot with their butts to the wind.  Nap time.  

Weekend well-wrapped

It was -17' when we went out to feed on Sunday a.m. Wrapped doesn't begin to cover the layers I was wearing. By afternoon the temp was 17' on the positive side - amazing the difference.


And we'll be doing it again next weekend. Which will be one more week closer to spring. I can't wait!

Sunday wrap-up

The tractor's issue - one of them at least - turned out to be needing the clutch bled. The horses have their bale.

And the weekend didn't completely revolve around sheep. I picked up a mineral tub for the horses. They always have a mineral block, but they've been hanging over the fence to gnaw bark. Since they're all round and not squabbling over the hay at feeding time, I'm guessing they're not getting something nutrient-wise from the hay that they need.

After much label reading, the one I picked up is intended for horses getting hay, but not grain. (It has some other attractive qualities, too, but darned if I can recall exactly what they were without the label in front of me.

At any rate, the horses were thrilled.

Star discovered it immediately and left the first teeth marks, but at one time or another they were all nibbling at it. They also upped their water intake - another plus. For now the tub's located up by the waterer, so if they're locked out of water while G fills corn buckets for the sheep we don't have to worry about them eating at it and then not getting in to drink.

I also removed windtangles and checked the geldings' sheathes for stud crud. Too cold to actually do a cleaning, but maybe next weekend. They're also due to be wormed, but I didn't want to introduce the mineral tub and worm both the same weekend, and since I remembered the wrong wormer when I picked it up.... Next weekend for that.

This afternoon we took Aiysha back. I'll miss her furry little body keeping my feet warm tonight.

And discovered that the cows had pushed through one of the upper gates and followed the tractor tracks down to the hay storage area. They were happy enough to be herded back where they belonged, though.



So the weekend started and ended with escapees - none of them equine, thank goodness. Fingers crossed that trend continues.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend, too!

Don't fear the tractor...

A new bale for the cows...

Standing up the hill by the gate as T started the tractor I could see the black cow-dots popping up over the hill at the first sputter of the engine - by the time we headed down to deposit the first bale they were all collected at the gate waiting.

And the horses

Don't guess fear of the tractor was a problem -
more like don't get run over
by the tractor!

I thought for a minute Eyore,
having escaped flattening-by-tractor
by the fuzz on his hairy little ears,
was going to get his head stuck underthe bale.

Finally, for your,

"Oh man, what a thing to do
to a poor defenseless horse!"
moment of the day.

Thunder - so not an enthusiastic Mizzou fan.

Happy Yellow Wheels & Cows

It seemed like a very quick weekend for some reason. Saturday we spent the day in Sioux Falls. I spotted this neat number in the parking lot, and couldn't resist grabbing my camera - How crazy-cheerful would you have to be to drive around on those wheels all day?

Sunday we helped friends work their cows. I did get some between the ears time, but not with Sunny :( These cute little red swivels belong to Buddy, a truly humongous quarter horse. I hopped on him briefly to run over and open a gate. Man, am I glad I normally ride a short horse, but I have to admit, his lope was awsome (shhh, don't tell Sunny!)

Casper, Buddy & Rufus
The boys snooze while we work.

That's MY baby in there!
Anxious mommas looked on after their turn through the chute.

T ran the chute hydraulics & loaded needles.
K and I had the messy, kicking end.

The toughest part was keeping the smaller ones facing the right way, as they were wiggly enough to end up backwards if we gave them the chance.

After the cows had all had their turn at the pointy end of a needle, we went for a ride. I started on Casper, the grey, and ended up on Rufus. Rufus was a bit sore footed on the gravel, so since I'm a bit lighter, T and I swapped and we mostly kept to a walk and the sandier bits of the road.

When we got back we swung by the farm to check on the fourfeets - all upright & accounted for :)

Didn't get to the canning, or most of the chores I had planned. Two days go quick!

Spring? No, just January thaw :(

This week Mother Nature has given us South Dakotans a small taste of spring - and after -20's, it's that much more appreciated, let me tell you!

When I got to the farm my first job was to throw some hay to the crew, and then to shoo these two escapees back to their own side of the fence.This is the second time they've been in with the horses - not that the horses mind - but luckily it doesn't take much to get them back where they belong. Cute faces, but there's not much upstairs!

Speaking of cute.... This is Mama Kitty - so dubbed because when she first appeared at the farm she promptly proceeded to have a litter of kittens in the market lambs' feed bunk - a very bad spot for newborn kittens, as the lambs tend to dive into their alfalfa with all four hooves, no matter how loudly it squeaks. They really like to play king of the hill IN the feed bunk.

We moved the kittens. She moved them back. We moved them again. She moved them back. Ultimately and unfortunately, none of the kittens survived being jumped on by the lambs.

Mama Kitty is most happy when people stay at least one arm's length away. Preferably farther. So she was content to pose for her picture against the bale, as long as it involved me not touching her. Drop-off-kitten was also sunning, but he came running as soon as I stepped out of the truck, and wouldn't hold still to have his picture taken. Stinker! (Actually, literally he's a stinker at the moment - he's been sleeping in the barn with the sheep, and he's a little rank....)

Cats aside, I had intended to actually throw a leg across Sunny today, but it wasn't to be. I ended up doing some pruning instead. Poor Foxy - of the across the fence adventures in December - is bottom mare. She gets chased a lot. Her usual evasion is to scoot around behind this big old tree that stands in the lower lot. Over the years it's turned into almost an umbrella, which is great for shade in the summer, but since it's also fairly close to the fence on one side, it makes squeezing past difficult if you're say, being chased for sport.

So today I dug a bow saw out of the barn, and tackled some of the hanging down limbs. I can definitely feel my arms at the moment, but I managed to get most of worst limbs trimmed up to an acceptable level. Now Foxy can escape around the tree rather than being run into it when she's evading menacing teeth.

After that, I got them all de-mudded again, which took a while. One thing about spring, even mock spring, it sure is WET. And dirty - LOL. I basically stripped when I walked in the door on getting home. Between rescuing a stuck sheep and hauling the trimmed branches over to throw across the fence, my jeans were wet nearly to the knees with mud & manure, and I had hay in places better left unmentioned. (Although that's normal, and at least hay doesn't smell bad!)

Still, it was absolutely wonderful to get chores done in a sweatshirt & tank top. And mud washes off, right?!