Feeding The Cows . . . 

First of all, good news. All of the chickens are present and accounted for.

Now that the corn is at an end, I took all of the remaining foliage down to the cows. I also took a bucket of red onions and Subway bread for them. We get our scraps from Subway mainly for the pigs, but our Belted Galloway cattle also love to get some treats. The pigs are not keen on onions, so I'm pleased the cows like them, although I don't know why. I arrived at the calves paddock first and threw them some bread. They are not brave enough yet to let me hand feed them. Our calves stay with their mums until they are 6 to 7 months old. This gives the cows time to regain their condition before they calve again. These calves are 9 months old now.

Some of the cows headed to the onions, some to the corn and others waited for bread. It is just as well that the cows got some of the onions, because as soon as Jock the bull noticed them, he pushed the cows out of the way and ate most of what was left.

I tried to take photos of the cows eating their bread, but I wasn't coordinated enough so I took a wee video. All of our cattle have Scottish names, as they originate from Scotland. I named one cow Letitia, but Bruce calls her Target because of the spot on her side. We only have 7 cows now. We will need to buy in some more heifers to replace the ones that have gone and give us another bloodline. We are going to keep one of the bull calves to replace Jock. As Jock will be 13 years old at the end of this month. Balmoral needs another couple of years before he can take over from Jock as top bull. We named him Balmoral because he was born on the day that Queen Elizabeth died. Hope you enjoy this wee video.

#BeltedGallowayCattle

6th May 2024