Mobbing up Cows

The Boss on his old mare Tango.  Don the young heading dog is having his first outing on cows and calves, so he's sticking pretty close, you can just see him almost tucked under the mare.  A horse takes stock at the right pace, and is a safer option than using the bike, especially if you are on the likes of Tango who isn't afraid to give cattle a good chomp if she doesn't like their behaviour!!   In fact she doesn't mind giving anything or anyone a good chomp if she's in the mood.  The cows are being mobbed up to expose them to other bulls.  This little mob has only one hereford bull with it, and it looks as if he has got them all in calf as they are not "bulling" (hanging around the bull and riding other cows) but to ensure a good calving you have to make sure that he has been fertile.  We'll know by the number and which cycle the hereford cross calves (we can tell as they have white faces) arrive in the Spring. 

Should I go join in



Just a little shove

The downside of mobbing everything up is the "Boys will be Boys" and indulge in a bit of fighting, so you just hope nothing gets badly hurt.  Then when they feel they've got all the cows they go laze in the shade (sound familiar girls).

More Hay, MORE WIND

Thankfully the Boss only cut half the paddock, as we had 2 hours of gusty galeforce Nor West wind AGAIN.  I would try to rake the rows into the wind so they sat as the baler (which was right behind my arse) picked them up, but then the wind would change direction and blow the rows to bits.  And if I rowed with the wind it was too strong, so it prevented the baler picking it up properly AND THEN YOU GET BALER BLOCKAGES.   Oooohhhh it was a fun afternoon, and over half of the hay blew away in front of our eyes.
What we did bale was really a little to green still (had not dried out properly) so the bales will have to sit out in the paddock for a while then just spread out in the haybarn for longer so they don't spontaneously ignite.  Think hot compost, and because the hay is compressed so tightly and drier than compost it burns.
What was even more annoying is that the paddock the neighbours were doing at the same time being in a different area didn't blow that much at all, we might end up buying some of theirs if this keeps up, and we have grown so much.

Back to December 2011

The busiest month of the year - shearing, and calf marking and Christmas!  And this year a broken leg (No 2 daughter) was tossed into the mix as well.  I departed to New Plymouth on the 24th November, and No 2 and I returned home on 20th December which was the earliest she could fly - a very nasty break to tibia and fibula, ankle dislocation and general mess around the joint *sigh*.

The only silver lining in this was that I would miss the shearing, and the shearers could bring their own food this year - much easier but costs a lot extra.  BUT NOOOOOOO - the weather didn't oblige and I got to do the shearing when I got home.  We had fortunately hired a guy to help which made a huge difference, so I didn't have to muster and draft (well theoretically), and he was here to do all the calf marking, and jet all the lambs against fly strike which will last until weaning.  But as he had worked quite a few weekends in the lead up to Christmas (job sharing with the neighbour) he had Christmas Eve off, so I cooked and helped in the yards with the sheep.  And as they didn't finish, cooked and helped in the yards for the day that was left in between Christmas and New Year.  Best laid plans of mice and men!!

No 2 could only sit and read books and play on the computer, but since going back to NP she has gone into a moon boot and back to work, thankfully.



Waiting (the story of December) to muster the cows and calves off the Spur, as you can see zero visibility




Why didn't it look like this yesterday?  And very obligingly this is quite a mob of cows and calves




Calves waiting their turn to be earmarked and vaccinated Heifers, and castrated as well for the Bulls




Just about to go into the crush




The castrator - man and tool - a very thick strong ring is placed around the testicles to cut off the blood circulation.  Keeps the Boss in line when I threaten him with it too!




Vaccination being given




Pushing the calf into the head bail



Ewes and lambs after the ewes have been shorn.  After shearing the lambs tend to really have a growth spurt, as the ewes are not so hot so they spend more time grazing and make more milk



Cruise keeping the mob from coming back to the gate, so that the lambs find and stay with their mothers



The Hay and a very frustrating day

                                                Entering the hay paddock the more sheltered side doesn't look so bad




But not a lot left on here



This is where some of the hay has ended up, and fortunately with careful driving this rake will pull most of it off.  Sure beats using the pitch fork!




Just about to start raking it off.



I won't be able to get into the corner though.



I don't know if you can see the hay in the long grass, but the creek did not fill up as much as it did one other time we had high wind on hay in this paddock

 Next year I think that all machinery maintenance before hay making should be banned.  It didn't make the slightest bit of difference, the baler continued to cause problems, and a warning light came on in the tractor which turned out to be for brake fluid levels - well so the Boss thought, but having checked and topped up, this light was on again before we finished.  Must be a faulty connection was his verdict - WE SHALL SEE!!  About 1/3 to 1/2 of the hay blew away, which is so annoying.

Our hay is blowing away

The first paddock of hay was cut 8 days ago, and it has just been too wet apart from a small window of  dry time to bale it.  Now the North Westerly wind has arrived, with a little rain so we still can't bale, and blowing it all away - sigh - (as you can imagine not quite  what the Boss is saying).

He spent quite a few hours on the wet days doing maintenance on the baler, so it would be all set to go when we started.  But  MACHINERY ONLY BREAKS DOWN WHEN YOU ARE USING IT  doesn't it (as he often tells me) and guess what in the small window we had to bale at least a third of the paddock a spring went and the baler then didn't - and he definitely wasn't smiling then!!

I'll tell you all about December next time - I know it was last month, but have been otherwise occupied.  This is a very different summer than last year's one, but at least the stock have plenty to eat at the moment.