Getting Cattle Inside The Barn

I need to get Scarlett, Rosella and their calves to start coming into the barn so I can have the two moms artificially inseminated again and so I can tattoo and sell the calves. I began by tempting them close to the barn with bowls of grain:

I don't care if the other cows eat any grain, but I decided to give them some if they come close enough:

Rosella and Scarlett are both producing large amounts of milk, so they are always hungry and ravenously eat any grain or hay they find:

Rosella was the bravest and the first to begin coming into the barn, returning to her former regular stall:

Then Jasmine, Rosella and Amy began coming into the barn. That giant on the right is Amy. She was smaller than the others when she arrived six years ago, seemed a bit oddly shaped and was sometimes bullied by the bigger cows. Now she's a giant, albeit with a docile personality:

Because Rosella couldn't reach the bowl on the floor as easily as the other cows, I made a little stand for her bowl of grain:

 Ruby and Scarlett in the rosy light of dawn, as they came in for a drink of water:

 Scarlett and Ruby by the salt lick and trace mineral feeders:

The girls became so accustomed to early morning grain that they often now come as a herd to the barn when they see me enter it:

 Jasmine, Amy and Rosella:

 Winston, Scarlett, Ruby, Violet:

 Winston has resisted coming into the barn, but he's getting closer:

The Red Poll Cattle

It's easy living for the red haired gals of Windswept Farm these days. The temperature has cooled and while there are still a lot of house flies, the biting flies seem to be disappearing:

 Rosella no longer keeps her calf by her side and he is free to roam anywhere he wants. She is ready to be artificially inseminated again and her calf, Winston, is ready to be sold - but first I need to get them into the barn when called. I'm working on luring them with grain:

 Jasmine and Winston were hanging out together near the gravel road:

 Gracie, Ruby and Scarlett were out near the neighbors' house:

Scarlett and Jasmine were by the stock tank. I also need to get Scarlett into the barn for grain so I can close the door on her and tattoo her calf's ears. Alas, her calf (Ruby) is getting big enough that I may need to get her locked in the barn instead. She's getting too big and too fast to catch when loose in the field:

 Jasmine and Rosella:

 Gracie, Violet, Winston. Winston is of course the smallest, but for this photo he was the closest:

 Scarlett and Ruby at mealtime - Jasmine in the background

Winston and Ruby were running and playing:

 Winston and Ruby again. They are playmates:

 Amy and Scarlett, with Ruby and Blue in the background:

The Red Poll Cattle In September

We've had comfortably cool, sunny weather and the pasture is growing faster than the cattle can eat it. Winston has grown so big that I need to make plans to sell him. That involves getting him into the barn and then trapping him there - but not before I have a buyer lest he refuse to ever go in there again:

 As you can see, these bovines have not been missing any meals and many are obese despite not getting any grain in about a year:

 But Rosella needs to be inseminated again and Scarlett needs to be separated from her calf so that I can tattoo the calf. Both jobs require that I get the herd to start coming into the barn again - and that means luring them with grain:

 The day before calving, Scarlett was lying down in the shade and her udder was huge:

Rosella is looking fit and ready to become pregnant for next year:

 These girls live a life of comfort and ease:

 The fly population is their only discomfort, and that will end soon - with the first killing frost:

 This is the view from the county road, what most people see as they drive by:

When Ruby was born, her mother kept her hidden most of the time (you can see her in the grass behind Scarlett):

 But little Ruby has grown bigger, stronger and bolder. Winston wants to hang out with her, but so far she hasn't been interested:

 But she sure is a beauty. Now I need to get her ears tattooed so I can register her:

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Autumn

Winston is reaching the age when I will need to trap him in the barn and sell him. It will be a tricky operation, and upsetting for him, for his mother, and for me:

 Blue and Remy have another 6 to 8 weeks in their corral before I can let them loose in the south field. They will be happy to regain their freedom, and I'll be happy that my life will be easier:

 My north field produced a second crop of hay. It was cut, then tedded, then baled. The neighbor did the baling, using the kicker to fling the finished product up into the wagon which was towed behind the baler. His uncle, on another tractor, raked the cut and dried hay into windrows so the baler could pick it up and turn it into bales:

 I love the aroma of hay, both in the field and in the barn. It is also a scenic operation:

I took this photo to show how the baler collects the rows of hay and processes them into bales:

 But there are occasional breakdowns and problems. This stop was to refill the bin with four big rolls of baling twine:

 Flowers were still blooming, so I brought two more vases of them to church. This one contained flowers of Tree Hydrangea, Rugosa rose and Sevillana rose:

 Sunflowers and Daylilies:

I didn't think there would be many apples this year, but like other years, I was wrong. When they began to fall, I was shocked to see there were so many:

 They weren't big, pretty, supermarket apples - but they were good:

 Over on the other side of the house, a Yellow Delicious dropped small apples, and some animal, probably a Chipmunk or Red Squirrel, has been using these old steps as a dinner table:

 The plums began to ripen, but I have learned to wait for them to fall before I eat them. That's how I know they're really ripe and sweet:

Scenes From Around The Farm

Winston and his Aunt Gracie lounged in the shade during a hot day:

 If this seems like an odd pose for Winston, it's because the camera caught him peeing. It does however show the house and barn in the background:

There won't be many apples this year - except for a couple of trees which appear to be loaded with them:

The baby pigeon from a recent post, where I recorded his growth for the first 27 days, lost his mother one night. I found her dead near the nest and her baby was peeping loudly for someone to feed him. His father should still be available, and the baby is still alive, so it looks like he will be fine. That's him in front of the feeder:

 

The front of the house, with lots of flowers: On the left is the Tree Hydrangea, in the middle are the seven baby hardy roses, and on the right are the Rose Mallows, just beginning to bloom:

I saw a Monarch butterfly when I walked out of the house but it took off so fast I didn't even try to get my camera out. When I got to the sunflowers, some of which are now 12 to 14 feet tall, there was a hummingbird enjoying them. I reached for my camera and realized I'd forgotten to put it in my pocket. I went back in the house to get it, but the hummingbird was gone when I arrived back. I then went into the barn to get the lawn mower, and when I came out, there was a brilliantly colored male Goldfinch atop a sunflower, but he too took off before I got a photo. Well, at least I got a photo of the sunflowers and daylilies:


The Frans Hals Daylilies are putting on a real show. I didn't know it when I ordered them, but they are considered to be one of the "Repeat Blooming" varieties:

My neighbor cut the hay in my north field one afternoon, so the next day he was tedding it. Tedding lifts and separates (like a Playtex bra?) the hay to speed up drying:

We had a spell of lovely but cool weather, so he had to come back repeatedly and keep the hay turned over until the sun dried it thoroughly:

The Elderberries began to ripen, but the birds ate them so fast it would have been easy to miss seeing them:

Whenever I drive to Massena, I pass by the "Barney Tree" on the left. It looks like a Tyrannosaur and I get a kick out if each time:

 I planted my Carnival  morning glory seeds in too shady of a spot. They barely grew because of lack of sun, so when one small flower appeared, I figured I'd better get a photo of it. There may not be any more of them: