Springtime Red Polls

Gracie is the only cow I've managed to lure into the aisle which leads to the squeeze chute. You can see the bowl of grain in front of her. Well, at least I got her this far:

I added more bowls of grain over time to tempt her in farther. She got almost to the end and then backed all the way out, ripping down some boards on her way. She refused to go in again after that, so this photo is a sad reminder of what she once almost did:

The grass began greening in early May and the cows were very happy about it:

I went out at dusk one night to put the chickens to bed and noticed that the setting sun was turning the woods pink behind the cows. Happily, I had a camera with me:

They have a favorite lounging spot near the old raspberry patch and have attracted their own small flock of cowbirds. The chickens, however, have discovered the advantages of following the cows and seem to have driven away the cowbirds:

I was in the car on the dirt road one day when I noticed one of my girls up atop the ridge grazing:

The bellies of three of them have been swelling, but so far there has been no full udders and no calves:

Everything here was so muddy that their hooves were always wet. I worried that they'd have hoof problems, but a local dairy farmer told me they'd likely break off the excess hoof once the ground dries out:

My five cows ate 34 big, round bales of hay in 170 days this winter. Keeping track of this will help me plan for next winter:

I ruined their old hay bale feeder by trying to pull it up out of the frozen ground. So I had to buy a new one. I've learned my lesson now, and will be much more careful:

I continued to turn over their hay right to the very end in order to be sure they had good hay to eat. But they were pretty much on green grass by early May:

They're a peaceful bunch when they lie down to chew their cuds - not so much when they're feeling frisky and want to play and cause trouble:

Hey, Look, The Grass Really Is Greener!

My property is divided into two parcels by a dirt road which, though narrow, has a surprising amount of traffic on it. But across from the house, barn and main pasture is a nine acre field which I wanted the cows to graze on occasion. Getting them across the road was the problem. So on Saturday morning, I poured five bowls full of sweet feed, grabbed the cowbell with which I always summon the cows to dinner and began luring them around the barn, out the gate and across the road:

Gracie, being the chow hound that she is, was the first to cross the road and entered the north field. Amy and Scarlett followed her, so I set down the bowls of grain for them. Alas, Jasmine was headed east down the dirt road and Violet, to my horror, was heading west up the dirt road toward the much busier county road:

My neighbor saw what was happening and ran out his door to help me. But before he could get there, both Jasmine and Violet decided they didn't want to be separated from the herd and came trotting back, entered the gate and joined the other cows, eating grain:

So my neighbor and I watched the cows explore their new field. First they followed the fence line:

And then, having decided they liked this taller grass and new view from up on the hill, began picking up speed:

Soon they were running at a high speed - not out of fear, but with great joy:

And then they stopped to graze this wonderful new grass. Those brown patches you see are former depressions which had once been filled with garbage. I hauled away the debris, filled the depressions with soil and then covered the ground with waste hay, left over from winter feeding:

The cows were contented and happy. I was feeling a rare competency:

I let the dogs out into their fenced yard and they immediately began barking at the cows, which had never before been in such plain view. The cows, however, had become accustomed to dogs barking and never batted an eyelash:

The dogs barked, the cattle grazed, the wind chimes tinkled and  my little rooster crowed:


I spent several hours hooking up both ends of the pipe which had been buried beneath the road when the fence was built. I was then able to run water from the barn into a stock tank for the cattle to drink. They had no trouble figuring it out and went immediately over to have some refreshment:

I had a much easier time getting the cows back across the road that evening. The next morning, I brought them back across the road to graze in the north field for the day. Once this routine becomes established, I hope that it will be simple and safe for the future: