The Red Polls In Summer

Little Winston is looking great, and I've had more people stopping in to ask about buying him. Even after I say he can't be a herd sire because he'll be sterile, they still seem to want him - but it will have to wait now until he's five or six months old so I can get him into the barn and away from his mom:

Scarlett is due to calve soon and makes frequent trips in for mineral supplements and water:

And sometimes the whole herd lounges near the compost/manure pile:

They are a happy, healthy bunch except perhaps for the obesity of some of them and the pesky flies in the summertime:

But life is good, and the scenery is beautiful:

Scarlett and Rosella, mother and daughter, one pregnant and one making milk for her calf, need lots of water and often come to the stock tank together:

Winston often runs to greet me when I'm in the field, coming surprisingly close and regarding me with fascination:

They drink lots of water in this hot weather:

I began letting the stock tank overflow in order to clean out the algae and keep the water fresh. It worked well except that I developed a big patch of gooey mud. I had to stop the practice, or at least do it less often:

The cattle have created many dust baths around the pasture, this one right next to the horses' corral. This a place where they kick the sandy soil up onto their bellies in an attempt to chase away the biting flies:

Rosella on her way to the stock tank to refill her milk making supply of water yet again:

Winston wanted to sleep but the cows wanted to move on:

Rocket Leaves For His New Home

Rocket had grown rapidly and was unusually big for a five month old calf:

He hung out with the herd in the early morning light and waited for me to call them into the barn for grain each morning:


Rocket and his young white friend, Lucky, went nearly everywhere together:

He slept in the pasture next to two of his aunties:

Oops. This is why one shouldn't stand too close to the back end of a cow:

His poopy side mostly cleaned off, he stopped for some mineral supplement with Lucky, his little buddy:

Then the day came when I locked him in the barn, awaiting pick up. He had never been alone before and worked hard to find a way out. I kept returning to the barn to check on him and add boards to his escape routes. This time he'd gotten himself wedged in a crawl space. Luckily, there was a gate there so I could easily get him out:

Then a man and his son from Cape Vincent, NY came to pick him up:

They have a beef farm and travel to this area sometimes because there is a meat packing plant here. They sell summer sausage, beef jerky, etc. Rocket will be their new herd sire. They said he was an escape artist there too - until they put him in with another yearling. He just wanted company:

I thought he was already weaned, but Scarlett, his mom, worried about him for two days. After that, she relaxed and her milk flow slowed down. The last I heard, Rocket was doing well in his new home:

The Red Poll Ladies (and one boy)

I'm almost afraid to say that spring is here lest winter return as it did recently with a weekend surprise ice storm, complete with high winds, snow and miserably cold temperatures. But we are all feeling some relief now, hoping that winter is over:

 It appears that I will have hay left over. It would be best to have figured it perfectly, but better too much than too little. I can feed out what is left next fall:

 Rocket is growing rapidly and becoming more handsome by the day:

 And he still likes to run and play:

 I keep a selenium/mineral/salt block and granulated minerals on hand at all times, though there isn't much I can do when snow covers them. I couldn't even find them once this past winter:

 We've passed the time when the cows could begin calving, pregnant by the neighbor's bull last summer. Gracie looks pregnant, but she's so fat that it's hard to tell:

 Rocket has become sort of friendly, but only once has he come this close:

 I thought he was dead one day as I walked up to him, calling him and trying to rouse him. Finally, I touched his leg - and he burst up in a panic and ran away:

 After a particularly difficult winter, the cows are feeling happy and comfortable. I hope I will soon be posting new calf photos, but nothing yet:

 Gracie and Amy squinted against a brilliant sun. I imagine they were feeling good just then:

 Scarlett and Rocket, mother and son, vied for a bowl of grain. Mom won:

 Rocket had a face full of milk. He's a sloppy, ravenous eater:

The Red Poll Girls

I continued carrying a bowl of grain out to Jasmine since she wouldn't come into the barn with the other cows. I wanted to be sure she got extra grain and mineral supplements:

 Jasmine is so tame that she usually welcomes petting:

Jasmine eventually began coming into the barn, but once in a while, one or two of the cows simply stayed outside. I used to let them go without grain when that happened, but now I'm trying to be sure they get plenty of minerals and vitamins, so I carry out a bowl to those who don't come into the barn:

 And the red haired ladies are still spending most of their time on the east side of the barn, where the building offers them respite from the west winds:

 They look like snow monsters since their fur insulates so well that the snow on their backs doesn't melt. This picture was taken right after I'd cleaned the barn floor and there was fresh hay put down. They wanted to eat it and refused to exit the barn. I had to walk in there and push them out. An occasion like this is where the less friendly cows come in handy, as they will leave the barn when I simply get too close. The friendlier cows need pushing or a slap on the butt:

 Amy is rather a friendly girl also:

 They all remembered their stalls from when they used to come in for grain - all of them except Jasmine, who seems dazed and confused much of the time. Of course once in a while, a cow will enter the wrong stall and then a struggle is possible:

 Jasmine again, on the east side of the barn near the bale feeder:

 Scarlett, easily identified by the white patch on her udder. One downside of uniformly colored cattle is identifying them at a distance. I've learned to look for certain identifying features. Also, you can see Blue and Remy over by the stock tank:

 Gracie was watching me as I refilled their mineral feeder and cleaned the snow off the salt block:

 I can find the cows at the bale feeder day and night, all winter long. If I ever find a cow missing, I'll panic and go on an immediate search:

 On this cold day, the wind was from the north and the sun was on the south, so they collected on the south side of the barn:

The Red Poll Girls

Before we got our first snow, I returned the cows to the north field. Two weeks later, I led them back across the road to the south field. That's were they'll spend the winter:

Poor Jasmine. The day after her cracked and infected rear hoof was worked on, I discovered bad cracks in two front hooves. She stopped eating and I feared she would die:

But I bought some expensive grain, so saturated with molasses that she ate it, and began feeding her a big bowl full (with extra minerals sprinkled on top) every morning. She's still not recovered, but has been looking much better:

And then the snows began. The cattle clustered around the bale feeder most of each day:

Jasmine didn't come to the barn for grain, so I began carrying her bowl out to her at the bale feeder:

I fed as many cows inside the barn as would enter it. The rest got fed just outside the door while I fed Jasmine, farther out in the field. I had to stand guard, though, lest the other cows take Jasmine's food when they arrived:

"Hey, why does Jasmine get the good stuff?"

It has become a daily ritual, and I slog out through the snow and mud each morning to check on her and make sure she eats a big bowl of nutritious grain:

The cows don't seem to mind the cold, snow or rain at all. It's difficult for me to understand, being a hairless ape whose ancestors evolved on the hot African plains:

I will keep a mineral salt block and granular free choice minerals for the cattle all winter. Selenium deficiency is common around here and I think that was the cause of one calf's death as well as Jasmine's hoof problems: