{"id":9003241321365533,"date":"2026-03-16T16:36:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T20:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/?p=9003241321365533"},"modified":"2026-03-17T07:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T11:09:09","slug":"dexter-cattle-joy-laughter-and-heartbreak-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/dexter-cattle-joy-laughter-and-heartbreak-part-4\/","title":{"rendered":"DEXTER CATTLE &#8211; JOY, LAUGHTER, AND HEARTBREAK &#8211; PART 4"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>They are here!&nbsp; My wife and I watched the cattle huddle around the hay bale located in the horse turnout next to our stables.&nbsp; The cattle didn\u2019t take long after delivery to settle themselves.&nbsp; I had let the grass in the turnout grow out and with the red and black of the cattle settled against the green grass the scene was picturesque.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Months before, while at the vet for my dog, Bear, I once mentioned that we were considering getting a horse.&nbsp; Our vet said, \u201cget cattle, they are easy.\u201d&nbsp; Could it be that easy?&nbsp; Now what do I do.&nbsp; They pretty much take care of themselves, don\u2019t they?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes and no.&nbsp; Mostly no.&nbsp; Grass fed?&nbsp; It was November and hay was needed.&nbsp; Grain fed?&nbsp; I wanted to feed a little grain as a training tool and to get them to follow me. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had purchased the following equipment and supplies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tractor.&nbsp; Don\u2019t need too big, but didn\u2019t want too small.&nbsp; I elected to buy new and take advantage of zero interest.&nbsp; Bucket.&nbsp; Bale fork.&nbsp; Mower.&nbsp; Expensive.&nbsp; But I was in this for long haul.&nbsp; What the heck?&nbsp; You only live once. &nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hay.&nbsp; I have come to learn that this is one of the biggest expenses.&nbsp; I contracted with a local farmer to cut the hay on our pasture.&nbsp; He took 2\/3rds and I got a 1\/3.&nbsp; At the time, I didn\u2019t have any other options.&nbsp; With 4 head of cattle, and no equipment, the arrangement would iwork, but not for long.&nbsp; I learned that quickly.&nbsp; I also started questioning whether or not some folks were looking out for my best interests.&nbsp; Sneak peak.&nbsp; They were not.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>100 gallon steel water tank.&nbsp; I bought one and then quickly learned I was going to need more,.&nbsp; When the cattle move, the tank does too. &nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hay bale ring.&nbsp; The idea was to minimize hay waste.&nbsp; See water tank.&nbsp; I quickly learned I would need more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Grain.&nbsp; I started with an all natural variety from a local farm store.&nbsp; Apparently all natural is a heck of a lot more expensive to produce as it was more than 3 times the price more than a product that is not natural per bag,&nbsp; It adds up.&nbsp; So does the weight.&nbsp; 50 pound bags.&nbsp; One bag at the time.&nbsp; Is it worth?&nbsp; It might be for you or your customers. &nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Fencing.&nbsp; The cattle were fine for the winter.&nbsp; In fact, they were spoiled.&nbsp; Complete access to our stables to come in and out as they please.&nbsp; I heard Jubilee whisper to Liberty, \u201cdon\u2019t tell him, but I could get used to this.\u201d&nbsp; Given it was said in a series of moos, that conversation is subject to interpretation.&nbsp; I got my first quote on the high tensile fencing.&nbsp; Prepare yourself for sticker shock. That said, one of the best things that I did.&nbsp; My advice, don\u2019t go cheap.&nbsp; Got on the list.&nbsp; The installer would be here sometime this fall.&nbsp; That didn\u2019t work out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Every day I would walk out with the cattle.&nbsp; I didn\u2019t force myself on them in the beginning and let them come to me.&nbsp; It didn\u2019t take long at all for Bitsie to come up to me and gently nudge me looking for a scratch.&nbsp; Jubilee and&nbsp; Liberty gradually came.&nbsp; All wanting attention.&nbsp; Willow, the heifer, was a little slower in her approach.&nbsp; Younger and more cautious.&nbsp; Sometimes it works that way.&nbsp; But once she got used to me, and I got used to her, she never fails, to this day, to give me hugs. &nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everything was great.&nbsp; The vet was right.&nbsp; This wasn\u2019t that hard. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh crap.&nbsp; I say that literally and figuratively.&nbsp; There was a lot of it.&nbsp; Cattle loved the stable but they didn\u2019t respect the sanctity of the stable bed.&nbsp; What am I going to do with all of that manure?&nbsp; I have a plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A little bit about the author.&nbsp; I own and operate a small farm called \u201cOur Yellowstone LLC\u201d in Illinois.&nbsp; I couldn\u2019t do it alone, but will keep my wife\u2019s name out of it to protect her innocence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>They are here!&nbsp; My wife and I watched the cattle huddle around the hay bale located in the horse turnout next to our stables.&nbsp; The cattle didn\u2019t take long after delivery to settle themselves.&nbsp; I had let the grass in the turnout grow out and with the red and black of the cattle settled against [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6305,"featured_media":100082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[298,660,498,116,301],"class_list":["post-9003241321365533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-newbie","tag-buying-dexters","tag-cattle-farming","tag-equipment","tag-homesteading"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9003241321365533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9003241321365533"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9003241321365533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9003241321365535,"href":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9003241321365533\/revisions\/9003241321365535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9003241321365533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9003241321365533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irishdextercattlemen.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9003241321365533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}