05/04/2022
Linda here
This is a story of how easy it is to limit our horizons and get stuck as demonstrated by a couple of little heifers.
Not long ago the herd of Devons transitioned from their winter pasture to grazing on all that luscious green new spring grass. It was a glorious day and the cows were delighted to give up hay in favor of the new smorgasbord in front of them
Winter feeding can be done several ways. Here at Bear & Thistle, the herd gets a sizeable amount of room and hay is fed in several piles spread out in a line at each feeding. The locations move around and the uneaten hay (trampled, too wet in the rain, or just scattered around because, well, they are cows) creates a lovely bed of mulch mixed with manure. This helps keep the grass roots from being trampled over the winter and the pasture does not become the muddy “sacrifice” zone that stationary feeders create in the winter rains and snows of Kentucky.
The late winter paddock is a unique environment with it’s carefully controlled layer of hay mulch. Into this unique spot two little heifer calves were born in the last days of February. They were healthy little girls and they thrived under their mothers' care and bounced around the herd and grew strong in spite of their late winter start. The winter pastures were home and all they knew for a month and a half. In mid April a third little heifer arrived. By this time, the grass on the other side of the fence was greening up and several inches high, so she spent the first couple of days bedding down just outside the fence in grass until she was strong enough to join the rest of the young ones playing around the herd.
And so it was that when the herd joyfully moved from the hay covered stubble into their lush green juicy feast, the two little girls who had never experienced walking into grass saw a monster rather than a wonderful new environment. They hung back, approached the monster warily and turned tail at the last minute, deciding to remain in their comfort zone. Not so the third calf for whom this was not so much a new experience. She sauntered into the new paddock with the rest of the herd. The two suspicious maidens decided to stay in the winter area and no amount of cajoling by their moms or pressure from the farmer could convince them to enter the unknown. So the fence was adjusted to give them just a little triangle of comfort, and we assumed that hunger and curiosity would eventually win the day. Not so. The rest of the day and all night and into the second day these two lingered in their self imposed exile. The younger calf would go back and forth, trying to show them that it was ok and inviting them to come play, but the fear of the monster was too great. It took pressure from an even bigger monster (the gator used to deliver hay) and herding pressure from farmer Kay to finally break the spell and convince them to join the herd.
All’s well that ends well and it’s a lesson to all of us. It could be that our monsters are really just a spring field of grass but we have to step into it to find out.
