DEXTER CATTLE – JOY, LAUGHTER, AND HEARTBREAK – PART 5
The cattle were enjoyable. Each with their own personality. That seems trite, and I don’t mean it to be, but they are all different. The cattle gathered around the bale ring eating hay was a sight to behold and one that I did not take lightly.
Willow, my beloved heifer, didn’t take too long to climb into the bale ring. Not just once. Not twice. Every single day. There is always one. As a new cattle owner, I was surprised, and somewhat revolted. The cows would crap in their hay. The hay that they are eating, they literally crap in it.
“Honey, what’s for dinner?”
“Steak and baked potato.”
“Mind if I take a deuce on it?” At least I asked. The cattle don’t.
Cattle are different. At first, I would climb into the bale ring everyday to remove the manure as Willow had no manners. The cattle continue to eat it, so I learned to live with it. I was picking the manure out of the hay that the cattle pulled out of the ring and then put the hay back in the ring. A bale of hay is expensive and I was trying to conserve.
The cattle had free access to the unused stables. They took advantage and I was so proud of the fact that the cattle could come in out of the weather or wind at any time. I had plenty of straw and also put hay out. And guess what the cows did? You guessed it. They crapped everywhere. The great news is based on what I was seeing they were taking healthy ones. Some consolation when you are picking it up daily. I didn’t mind.
And here is what I didn’t know but wished I did. Every single cow owner will tell you to have a manure plan. Every single cattle owner starting out who doesn’t have a plan will be sorry if they don’t.
Every morning I would pick up the manure in the stables, put in a bucket, and then take it to a manure bin. Perfect plan right? At the time, it worked. It was a lot of work because every morning I felt as if the number of bucket loads were increasing exponentially. No worries because look at all the fertilizer I was going to have.
Fall and then winter. The cattle were eating, crapping, and seemed genuinely happy. I would not miss a day of petting each one and talking to them. Jubilee was growing by the day and every day I would take a guess as to when the baby was coming. Did the calf drop? Is she puffy on her backside? Have her pins dropped? With the way she is carrying it, it is going to be a heifer. Looking back on it, I had no idea as to what I was looking at but it was so fun to speculate.
A call from my fence guy. I hadn’t purchased a fence yet, but I had a guy. He will start building the fence to the pasture adjoining the horse turnout in the beginning of spring. I had plenty of hay and true to their breed the Dexters were not tearing up the turnout area.
My wife. “Does the hay ring look to be sitting up a lot higher?”
“Optical illusion. All hay. They will eat it.”
Of course it wasn’t. It was an issue that will be dealt with early spring once I move the cattle to the adjoining pasture. It will all work out. Once the fence is secure, I will move the cattle on the 3 acres and keep them there all summer. They will have plenty of grass.
Strike one.
A little bit about the author. I own and operate a small farm called “Our Yellowstone LLC” in Illinois. I couldn’t do it alone, but will keep my wife’s name out of it to protect her innocence.
Willow, my beloved heifer, didn’t take too long to climb into the bale ring. Not just once. Not twice. Every single day. There is always one. As a new cattle owner, I was surprised, and somewhat revolted. The cows would crap in their hay. The hay that they are eating, they literally crap in it.
“Honey, what’s for dinner?”
“Steak and baked potato.”
“Mind if I take a deuce on it?” At least I asked. The cattle don’t.
Cattle are different. At first, I would climb into the bale ring everyday to remove the manure as Willow had no manners. The cattle continue to eat it, so I learned to live with it. I was picking the manure out of the hay that the cattle pulled out of the ring and then put the hay back in the ring. A bale of hay is expensive and I was trying to conserve.
The cattle had free access to the unused stables. They took advantage and I was so proud of the fact that the cattle could come in out of the weather or wind at any time. I had plenty of straw and also put hay out. And guess what the cows did? You guessed it. They crapped everywhere. The great news is based on what I was seeing they were taking healthy ones. Some consolation when you are picking it up daily. I didn’t mind.
And here is what I didn’t know but wished I did. Every single cow owner will tell you to have a manure plan. Every single cattle owner starting out who doesn’t have a plan will be sorry if they don’t.
Every morning I would pick up the manure in the stables, put in a bucket, and then take it to a manure bin. Perfect plan right? At the time, it worked. It was a lot of work because every morning I felt as if the number of bucket loads were increasing exponentially. No worries because look at all the fertilizer I was going to have.
Fall and then winter. The cattle were eating, crapping, and seemed genuinely happy. I would not miss a day of petting each one and talking to them. Jubilee was growing by the day and every day I would take a guess as to when the baby was coming. Did the calf drop? Is she puffy on her backside? Have her pins dropped? With the way she is carrying it, it is going to be a heifer. Looking back on it, I had no idea as to what I was looking at but it was so fun to speculate.
A call from my fence guy. I hadn’t purchased a fence yet, but I had a guy. He will start building the fence to the pasture adjoining the horse turnout in the beginning of spring. I had plenty of hay and true to their breed the Dexters were not tearing up the turnout area.
My wife. “Does the hay ring look to be sitting up a lot higher?”
“Optical illusion. All hay. They will eat it.”
Of course it wasn’t. It was an issue that will be dealt with early spring once I move the cattle to the adjoining pasture. It will all work out. Once the fence is secure, I will move the cattle on the 3 acres and keep them there all summer. They will have plenty of grass.
Strike one.
A little bit about the author. I own and operate a small farm called “Our Yellowstone LLC” in Illinois. I couldn’t do it alone, but will keep my wife’s name out of it to protect her innocence.
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General
Milk Yields Record taken from a Dexter Cattle Society Booklet
Butterfat Content in Dexter cattle
