We still have our bucklings in a small pasture by our house. There is ball clover and rye
grass planted in this area, and with 20 bucklings they haven't put a dent in it. They are
more concerned with the fence row that is loaded down with briars. AZ , one of our
newest LGD's, has been put in with the bucklings. He has taken to them really well. Here
is a photo of him lounging with the boys.
We moved our does into another pasture that needs to have the clover knocked
down. Davie, our border collie, got a little help from our daughter herding the goats.
Mallory was "in charge" of the newest kids getting to the new field. She took her job
very seriously. She did a great job!
Those does went straight to work on that clover! Cheyenne, yet another new LGD, was
introduced to the doe herd. She had to be moved with our bucks after a couple days. She
still has that puppy chewing behavior and sought out the new kids to chew on their back
legs. She has done well with the bucks. She is in that field with Sinbad and Jael's pup
Xena. They have done well with keeping the coyotes at bay. The other night I could here
them VERY close to our farm. It sounded like a large pack of them. I am so glad that we
have our Anatolian Shepherd's. I was able to rest knowing our goats were safe with them
on guard.
Shane went to the stockyard the other day and bought 4 "lawn-mowers". One of them had a
calf the next morning after she got here! He said he didn't care what kind of cow they were,
they just needed to keep the clover eat down, give him a calf, and put on a little weight. This
brings our cattle herd back up to 29 and counting.
And speaking of calf.....We had to pull our first calf the other day. We have been really lucky
since we've been raising cattle. But I guess there's a first time for everything. The calf's head
had been turned completely backwards and Shane never could get it turned around. We
ended up having to pull it out for the cow. She has been down now for about a week. Her legs
seem really weak. Shane called Dr. Huffman and he told us to giver her a steroid shot and give
it a little time. That was several days ago. Shane went to Dr. Huffman's office this morning
and got a clamp for us to put on her hook bones and lift her with the tractor. It seems like
physical therapy. I was amazed at how well she did after being up after 10 minutes. We are
supposed to do this for 30 minutes twice a day. Shane will be going back to work in a few
days, so I am going to be doing this while he's not here. Wish me luck!! I hope this cow gets
her strength back and makes it through this.Here are some photos of the clamp being used.
Neatest thing I've seen!
Year to date FAMACHA score average: (1.7)
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(Click on pedigree for larger view)
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