New cows

Did I tell you we have new cows? Three steers to be exact. El Hubs went off to the cattle auction place where all the farmers go. He went with a local farmer who is in his 70s and knows all there is to know about cows. He’s taken El Hubs under his wing since he had his cows here in April. He brought his herd along (plus his bull) to help eat the grass down.

Splash, Bridget and Frances were all eyes for the bull and all three are now in-calf and expecting their calves around December (we think: could be earlier). Tarts!

So the farmer suggested to El Hubs certain breeds of cow – Angus, Friesian and Hereford – and he bought the three based on his suggestion. They were to arrive that afternoon and this threw us into a bit of a panic. Our property was once a dairy farm so it has a cattle ramp near the stables. When cows are delivered, the truck backs up to the loading ramp and the cows come safely down the ramp.

The slight problem was that we have four horse corrals that were erected after the dairy farm was sold off as four properties. And one of these corrals was going to block the delivery truck’s ability to reverse up to the cattle ramp. The local farmer saw this as no problem: he quickly dismantled the corral, the truck delivered the cows and then he and El Hubs re-assembled the corral.

Down the ramp came the three steers and then we herded them off to the paddock to meet the lady cows. Splash, being boss cow, immediately rushed after them and, for a few hours, there was a lot of argy-bargy going on in that paddock. The three boys still keep to themselves and join the girls when Splash says it’s okay.

Bovine behaviour is almost as hilarious as equine behaviour!