Re: Cow Quandary

On Aug 6, 8:33�am, "MaryL" <stanco...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
"Sherry" <sridd...@xxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:f15dcfcc-3b31-426d-ac02-a6499b896b8b@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Aug 6, 12:25 am, "Yowie" <yowie9644.DIESPAM...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:





Sherry wrote:
I think I've mentioned to you all my father is now in a nursing home,
and hospice has been called in because he
is in kidney failure. This completely dashes any ideas that he would
ever improve to the point he got to come home.

He had a few cows which we kind of "inherited" eight months ago when
he got ill. DH & I know nothing about cows. We fed them, watered
them, and that seemed to work. They started having babies last spring,
and that
was pretty exciting. We messed with the babies a lot just because they
were so darn cute.

Normal ranching practice is, you take the calves each fall off to be
sold. I've seen a sale barn auction in action. It's
absolutely horrible. These calves have never been off the place where
they were born. Now, cows are dumb, and sometimes drooly and smelly,
but most of them are such gentl
creatures you cannot imagine.

Especially Katherine. Katherine was born with absolutely no fear of
humans. When she sees me, she runs to me
like a dog and checks my pockets for treats. When she sees DH, she
snorts, slings her head, throws her back end around and tries to kick
him. I think that's just precious.

I figure I have two choices, since I absolutely can't sell this baby.
I can find a "good home" on a neighboring farm to someone who is
looking for breeding stock to keep. Someone I know takes care of their
cattle. Or we can build
fence so that we can separate the calves from the bull. (who is their
father and can't be kept with them after puberty hits -- nuff said
about that).

I'm not getting attached to any more of them. :-(

Anyway, here's a pic of Kathrine.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2362602110101618540ibhUOv

Not that I know anything much about cows either, but I'd probably find a
nice home for the bull with the understanding you could 'borrow' his
'services' if needed, and otherwise let your female herd have a happy
retirement, including Katherine. The fence also sounds good, but animals
tend to have a way of getting around / under /over / through fences when
nature calls.

Yowie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That's not a bad idea, Yowie, and I've thought about that. It may be
more difficult to find a good home
for Big Al. He was born here too actually, but is getting old now. He
is just an awesome specimen of
a big (over 1 ton) gentle Angus. But I'm afraid about anyone would
look at him and think "hamburger meat."
And the cows *are* close to "retirement" age. I'm just glad Dad had
let the herd dwindle over the years as he
aged so that now there's just a few. �And we *need* to keep a few
cattle to keep the grasses/weeds eaten
down in the pasture. I'm just not cut out for the selling thing.

Sherry

Sherry, this may be a strange suggestion (and question)...But do you have
any need for the bull's "services"? �If not, have you thought about having
him castrated? That way, you could keep both the bull and the cows without
danger of any unexpected calves. �The procedure also can have a calming
effect.

MaryL- Hide quoted text -

I don't know much about that either, but I'd guess he's too old and
too big for that. I can't see
how a 2,000 lb. + animal could be castrated becasue of bleeding
issues.
If it *were* feasible, that would fix the whole problem, though.
He's very docile, but *still* gets territorial about "his girls"
sometimes and does the whole
posturing thing if DH does something he does not like. It's pretty
impressive.
Can't really fence him off alone either; cattle are herd animals and
they would be miserable
alone. We would have to put *something* with him for company.
I am glad my father does not know what a complicated mess I am making
out of this. I assume too much human emotion into animals. I just
think too much
about them ending up in an overcrowded feed lot, or sold for rodeo
stock, or something else horrible.

Sherry
.

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