Thursday, September 05, 2013

Stupid cows

We've had the cows in the alfalfa/grass field for some time, but they were trimming it a little shorter than we liked.  We have both hayfields electric-fenced.  The way we keep the horses out is to string an electric wire up high enough for the cows to get under, but low enough that the horses would get shocked if they tried to go in.  This has always worked great, with the exception of one of Bonnie's calves, who refused to ever go under the electric fence.  While his mother feasted on the good stuff, he picked at bluegrass on the outside.  

This was the opening to the alfalfa/grass field.  Cliff closed it off yesterday with a piece of cattle paneling.  No cow has ever hesitated to enter that field.  

This is the opening to the clover field.  

Crystal, Bonnie's daughter, will not go through that opening.  Neither will George, seen at the right of the picture.  The other four are in the field, but two of them were dragged in by me.  

Four cows in the clover (Bonnie, Jody, Grace, and Penny), three cows outside (Crystal, Jenny, and George).  

Penny in mid-chew, knee-deep in clover.  She's wearing a halter because I had to drag her into the clover with a rope.  No easy task for an old woman.

Four cows enjoying the clover, three cows just wishing they had some clover.

I asked Cliff if he had any idea why they will enter the other pasture but not this one and he had an excellent answer:  The opening to the alfalfa (now closed) has fence or panels on either side, so it doesn't feel to the cows as though they are walking right through an electric fence.  

4 comments:

  1. Kind of interesting why some of them go into that field and the others don't.

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  2. What would Temple Grandin do?

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  3. They surely do look like contented cows no matter what side of the fence.

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  4. You can lead a cow to clover...oh wait. Maybe you can't. Silly cows.

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