Liz taking Mandy for a turn on the lawn the other day. Mandy is Blitz's mamaThe whole herd got to enjoy grass yesterday, as we turned out to pasture for the first time this season.
The first time they go out, I have to stand outside the door and break up fights. Cows are thought of as being sweet and placid....However they love to battle each other to their knees, and pound on one another with great zest. My poor Etrain was put right on the concrete and pushed along the ground by Lemonade. Good thing I was there to restore order! After a few runs up and down the hill and some jumping and kicking they fell to eating grass and pretty much calmed down.
I'm sure it's a beautiful sight watching all those gals munching on that green grass :)
ReplyDeleteNice that spring has FINALLY arrived in the Northeast!
I wish I could put the horses on grass, hopefully this year we can get more line fences up, but with haveing to finish the barn and drive way, I have a feeling it won't be until next year. Nice pictures, Liz looks like it is so easy to lead a cow.
ReplyDeleteI love it when we turn the "girls" to a new pasture. The running, jmping, udders flinging from one side to the other... and your so much better than I... I just let the girls fight it out. :)
ReplyDeleteThe joys of spring... aren't they grand?!
We don't have a lot of cows here at the beach so reading about yours is fascinating. I've never seen them do anything but stand still - the idea of them running and fighting is crazy LOL
ReplyDeleteI can imagine how good that feels after a barn winter!
ReplyDeletei had no clue cows fought like that! during travel you always see them eating, standing, or lying down, never fighting. how interesting!
ReplyDeleteI hate it when they fight amongst themselves, especially when there is young calves around. I don't imagine you have to worry about that though.
ReplyDeleteCow fighting? That is totally a new one for me. You should YouTube one of those matches.
ReplyDeleteFred Hi I love you dearly.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being there.
Love ya
Mappy
Deb, it is so good for them. We call it Doctor Green. Cold again today, but it sure is pretty
ReplyDeleteLisa, we are short on good fencing too. We do have one more pasture finished, but we have some tough ones yet to go. Mandy is such a sweetie, she leads like a big puppy most of the time.
Sara, if they didn't feel that they had to do it on the concrete I would let them fight too. I hate to see them get all banged up though and if I can just keep their minds off it long enough to get them up on the dirt where they see the grass they are calmer...or at least hopefully. lol
Sandcastle Momma, they do, they really do. We have to be careful not to let our lame old 13-year-old cow, Eland, out with the bred heifers. She banged her leg up calving and they would love to get her down and beat her. Poor old lady. She is coming along good though
FC, it was a long winter for them with three feet of ice everywhere. The tractor couldn't even get most places, let alone the poor cows. The boss beat his knees up so badly walking around on it, he is still hobbling
KritterKeeper, most of the time they are pretty calm, but they have a pecking order just like chickens and when something, such as a new heifer or one in heat, disturbs that balance, they fight it out like you wouldn't believe! It is actually scary to stand outside the barn door and keep order sometimes. They will run right over you!
Linda, not so much, although if there are some in season and one calving the results can be terrible. We try to keep them in the barn when they are in heat, but sometimes they get out before we notice and you can't always get them back inside.
Jan, they do and fiercely! I might be able to get video one of these days, although usually I am trying not to get run over in the melee! lol
Matt, I love you too, little brother, and I feel like I am doing nowhere near enough. Thank God for your lovely wife, who is taking on so much. Hope things are at least going all right at work for you. I worry....take care!
Boy do I understand! We turned four mothers and thier calves out on the little pasture. What goof balls, they ran and ran and acted like they lost thier heads, big ol udder swaying (it should have hurt enough for them to stop, but didn't) until then finally settled down and SAW THE GRASS! Yumm that is good, why were we running?
ReplyDeleteMunch Munch
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/
I never knew that about cows. Our sheep were so happy to be on grass, that's all they did...eat. Why are they fighting? Surly there is plenty of grass in the pasture.
ReplyDeleteLinda, aren't they something? Ours weren't as bad this year as they are sometimes, although they wanted to go to a different pasture and didn't want to go through the gate we wanted them to.
ReplyDeleteWR, they have a somewhat different herd structure than sheep. Although they band loosely together and like company, there is a firm hierarchy that is rigidly enforced, a bovine pecking order if you will. Seems as if they have a lot of grudges to settle in the spring, or really, whenever they are put together with new or different animals they fight until everyone knows their place. Sometimes they even seem to fight through sheer high spirits. Thank God we dehorn them these days!