Secret's last chance

We took Secret for a little romantic vacation with a Scottish Highland bull. She's due to come in heat sometime between this coming Wednesday and next Sunday (18 to 21 days). This little bull has never had opportunity to breed a cow, so here's hoping he figures it out (he will). And here's hoping Secret doesn't have some reproductive problem to keep her from getting pregnant. If she does, we'll be eating Secret-burgers before long. Usually when you let a new cow in with a cattle herd, they'll swarm over to meet the newcomer, smelling her behind, jumping on her as if she were in heat, and sparring a bit with their horns, if they have them, to establish pecking order. So Cliff and I were surprised to see that all Tommy's cattle, including the bull, were scared silly of Secret! I wish I'd have been able to get a video, but they were quite a distance away. Remember to click on any picture if you want to see it larger.

They kept a healthy distance from her.

That's a steer on the left and the bull on the right. Tommy has his heifers separated from the bull at present. Notice the pretty autumn colors in the background.


Wouldn't you know, the steer is more interested in Secret than the bull is?


So Secret went over to the fence to make friends with some heifers. Girl talk, you know. Someone gave Tommy's son some chickens, so Tommy's building a chicken house. He said he's using stuff he had on hands already, so he only has $40 worth of material in it.


We advised him to make access to the nests from outside, so his boy won't have to crawl in chicken-poop to gather eggs. He agreed that would be a wise move. Wish Secret luck on this little honeymoon!