Warm and toasty
Unni and Inge would be leaving on their long awaited holiday this Sunday. And so before he goes and leaves the cow house work to another guy who’s coming by to help out, the young cows gotta be brought in.
7 young cows remain roaming the fields. Coz they are not milking cows, it’s not that essential that they get a constant supply of fresh grass to feed on, so they were left out to eat whatever grass that’s left in the fields whilst the milking cows were brought into the cow house at the end of September when the fresh grass ran out. Also since the weather’s turning cold, it’s better for the cows to get into the cow house where they can be warm and toasty.
After breakfast, Inge and I get out to the field to herd in the young cows. Coz cows are pretty curious with new happenings, they naturally come to you when you get into their field. So it was a matter of walking them to the entrance of the cow house.
If you’d recall, the last time the young cows were brought into the cow house to be checked by the vet, Unni, Inge and I took more than an hour to get them all in coz they were getting stressed and confused with all the being pushed into the cow house and the constant moo-ing from the cows already inside the cow house.
This time was no different. But not as tough as before. Though they did like to stop and look around, do a little bit of self-grooming, grass chomping...
It didn’t take much coaxing for us to get 2 cows into the cow house and into the holding area they were gonna spend the rest of winter in. 2 were already in the cow house, but were just walking around. The rest just stood at the door. Staring and sniffing away. Star and sniff, stare and sniff.
In situations like these, it’s time to take out the food bribe. A little fresh grass to begin with. If all else fails, then its time to attempt to push them right in. But the darn cows just wouldn’t budge. So Inge and I decide to handle the 2 which were already in the cow house and leave the rest for later. After much guidance, the 2 make their way into the holding area.
Which leaves us with 3 roaming cows. 2 of which we had to get into the holding area and the other was going to get an individual stall (which was formerly owned by Big Black 0481) and hang out with the milking cows coz she’d be expecting a calf in winter and its easier to just have her there ready to be milked rather than take her out again.
Surprisingly, bringing the young cows in this time round wasn’t as difficult as the previous. It didn’t take much trouble for us to get the other 2 into the holding area. Which just left the mother-to-be. Amazingly, while we were busy with the other 2, she walked straight into the cow house all by herself. Great. So all we had to do now was to get her into her stall. Which was pretty easy coz all Inge and I needed to do was for me to stand in front of her and for him to stand behind her and we’d corner her to get her to back into her stall.
1 circle around the cow house was all it took for her to walk right into her stall. Then she just had to be buckled in and the morning’s work was done.
So now all the cows are in the cow house. All 40 of them, warm and toasty. We’ve got a full house now in the milking cows stalls. The new cow that’s coming even has to take the stall which is usually left empty coz it’s smaller than the rest!
(area where the milking cows are. Cow on the right, only one looking at camera. that's 0495!!)
(area where the young cows are)
7 young cows remain roaming the fields. Coz they are not milking cows, it’s not that essential that they get a constant supply of fresh grass to feed on, so they were left out to eat whatever grass that’s left in the fields whilst the milking cows were brought into the cow house at the end of September when the fresh grass ran out. Also since the weather’s turning cold, it’s better for the cows to get into the cow house where they can be warm and toasty.
After breakfast, Inge and I get out to the field to herd in the young cows. Coz cows are pretty curious with new happenings, they naturally come to you when you get into their field. So it was a matter of walking them to the entrance of the cow house.
If you’d recall, the last time the young cows were brought into the cow house to be checked by the vet, Unni, Inge and I took more than an hour to get them all in coz they were getting stressed and confused with all the being pushed into the cow house and the constant moo-ing from the cows already inside the cow house.
This time was no different. But not as tough as before. Though they did like to stop and look around, do a little bit of self-grooming, grass chomping...
It didn’t take much coaxing for us to get 2 cows into the cow house and into the holding area they were gonna spend the rest of winter in. 2 were already in the cow house, but were just walking around. The rest just stood at the door. Staring and sniffing away. Star and sniff, stare and sniff.
In situations like these, it’s time to take out the food bribe. A little fresh grass to begin with. If all else fails, then its time to attempt to push them right in. But the darn cows just wouldn’t budge. So Inge and I decide to handle the 2 which were already in the cow house and leave the rest for later. After much guidance, the 2 make their way into the holding area.
Which leaves us with 3 roaming cows. 2 of which we had to get into the holding area and the other was going to get an individual stall (which was formerly owned by Big Black 0481) and hang out with the milking cows coz she’d be expecting a calf in winter and its easier to just have her there ready to be milked rather than take her out again.
Surprisingly, bringing the young cows in this time round wasn’t as difficult as the previous. It didn’t take much trouble for us to get the other 2 into the holding area. Which just left the mother-to-be. Amazingly, while we were busy with the other 2, she walked straight into the cow house all by herself. Great. So all we had to do now was to get her into her stall. Which was pretty easy coz all Inge and I needed to do was for me to stand in front of her and for him to stand behind her and we’d corner her to get her to back into her stall.
1 circle around the cow house was all it took for her to walk right into her stall. Then she just had to be buckled in and the morning’s work was done.
So now all the cows are in the cow house. All 40 of them, warm and toasty. We’ve got a full house now in the milking cows stalls. The new cow that’s coming even has to take the stall which is usually left empty coz it’s smaller than the rest!
(area where the milking cows are. Cow on the right, only one looking at camera. that's 0495!!)
(area where the young cows are)
posted by Farmer Sam at 5:10 PM
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