A Calf Chase Morning

Yesterday we got two new calves. (To go with the new calf we got Saturday) They were both from first calf heifers down with the bull, which necesitates some tricky working to get them and their mothers out of there.

I waited 'til daylight to go down and do the feed and capture thing. I got all the extraneous animals, including the bull, trapped in the corral so hubby could come down later and try and lead the new moms across the road into a different field.

He did manage to find the calves, but one cow wouldn't follow and the other one only followed part way, he had to leave her in the open field. So I find myself going BACK up there (the 2nd trip with the 4-wheeler) and catching one cow in the corral. After that we take the truck and the 2 calves back up there. We get the cow that's in the corral with no trouble. Even the bull was tired of the whole thing by then.

We shove the other calf under the fence to be with her mother (who was back at the fence looking for her). But this calf has a momentary lapse of sense and goes galloping up the fence and lunges back through it, away from her mother. Hubby goes charging after her, shoves her back under, only to have to run a couple hundred yards along the fence after her to continue shoving her back through at intervals. The mother herself was also trotting along, helpfully lowing at the calf as if in encouragement.

Hubby finally gave up and just let them go and hoped the calf stayed in the field with her mother. I guess we will find out tomorrow.

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