We've had a small herd of beef cattle for nearly a decade now, and I've never been seriously injured by one. In fact, I can only remember a single incident where things came close to getting serious, and it wasn't really the cow's fault. But for folks less familiar with cattle, the question comes up: what do I do if a cow or bull charges me? From folks who have experience … [Read more...] about What to Do if a Cow Charges You
Cattle Behavior
How to Get a Cow Back in the Pasture
Sometimes I have nightmares about fences down, cows getting out, and chasing cows around trying to get them back in the pasture. The first few times cattle got out on our farm were pretty stressful. It doesn't happen as often these days, but a cow or calf still does get out now and then. We've learned over the years that these problems can be minimized, and when they happen, it … [Read more...] about How to Get a Cow Back in the Pasture
The Bond Between Mama Cow and Calf
One of the most special parts of running a cow-calf operation, is seeing the bond between mama cow and her baby. I captured some sweet moments over the last few days and wanted to share here. These "babies" in the pictures below were born in spring-2019. This is our first year on a delayed-weaning schedule. Normally, the calves would be wintered separately on the farm. It … [Read more...] about The Bond Between Mama Cow and Calf
Tales from the Cattle Farm: “What are you DOING?! Get out of THERE!”
Fences are a great invention. We like fences. Fences are good. They tend to keep our animals where they need to be. Emphasis on the word "tend". As I shared in a previous post, moose and fences don't really get along here on our farm. When a moose takes on an electric fence, the fence usually ends up flat on the ground! We train our animals to respect the electric … [Read more...] about Tales from the Cattle Farm: “What are you DOING?! Get out of THERE!”
New Blog Series: Observations from THE PASTURE
These last few weeks have found me getting more and more exited for our 6th calving season, and for ALL of this snow to disappear. With calving on the mind, I have been tossing around an idea for a future blog series. Seeing the attention our post, That Cow is Gonna Calve Soon: Signs of the Onset of Labor, has garnered since it's inception in 2014, I had a light-bulb … [Read more...] about New Blog Series: Observations from THE PASTURE