On Monday we went over to some friends place near our farm. They have an acreage and keep a few cows for beef. Because they do not have enough acreage for the cows, they end up feeding hay throughout the winter. With our cow "Henny" out in the pasture alone with her calf, we thought that if we took a few cows in they would keep her company and we would be able to clear out some overgrown pastures on our property. It is a win win situation because we get some pasture cleared and our friend doesn't have to feed this summer. Our trusty stock trailer in tow, we made the 3 minute drive to the neighbor's place to pick up some extra members for our "herd", two Hereford cross heifers.
Cows are so interesting to us. Having never kept them, we are learning daily about their behaviour. There wasn't the big melt-down rodeo that occurs when you introduce strange animals to each other in almost every other species. Pigs spend the next few hours chasing and butt sniffing and squealing in horror at each other. Horses run at full throttle chasing and biting. Dogs....well you get where I am going. When we let the two new cows into the pasture with Henny it was almost disappointing! They sniffed noses with each other, bellowed a time or two to each other and then just started walking around together grazing. I am glad we didn't have fences to repair or vet bills! It was funny this morning because "T-bone", the calf, was mock fighting with the other young heifer. He is so little compared to her, but she seemed to be enjoying the play time also, and was very gentle with him.
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