Three Plus Three
We sorted out the two heifers that were born last month and their mothers out of the main herd and shooed them into the nursery field to join Dawn and Donna. The group of six are getting along wonderfully and we are comfortable in the fact that the group will be a better deterrent against predators. Having three mothers watching the babies allows for one or two of the cows to head off to the far end of the field to spring for water or grazing while one cow babysits.
The three calves are Zuzu, Amy and now Dawn. The three of them have formed a bond and it is more likely than not to find all three near each other when napping or scouting for trouble. When one of the calves gets a bit twitchy and decides to take off on a full run around the field, the other two join in on the fun. They like to zip in big circles around the mothers while once and a while splitting the circle by running through the middle and nearly sideswiping a cow in the process. The cows don’t get riled up with the antics, they seem to know that it is good to burn off that extra energy every now and then.
The mothers are very contented since we feed hay in slabs out on the ground twice a day when we are feeding the main herd in the outdoor feeders. and all three calves nibble along when not scooting around in a game of tag. Even though the ground is pretty spongy with rainwater, this small herd will not damage the sod as the whole herd would do.