Coyote Ridge FarmsWelcome To Our Rural Blog

Thursday was the day we brought Curly back to his home.  Curly is the purebred Scottish Highland bull we rented/borrowed for the fall.  We picked him up in July and he was a welcomed sight everyday he was here.  We had/have a farm bull (Sampson), but it was evident that after 2 springs w/o a single calf, Sampson was shooting blanks.  We then put the word out that we were in the market for a bull and through a friend of a friend, we were in-touch with a bull owner who could help us out.  We are so very grateful.

Since we’re on a fairly new farm/ranch (well, actually an older farm, but nearly starting over) and still developing pastures and lanes, we found ourselves without a corral of any kind.  Out back, we have an old bus and a wrecked semi-flatbed, setting parallel to each other, but in a slight funnel/V shape.  This was the closest thing we have to a corral of any kind – it would have to do.

With our farm truck, still in the shop, I used a tractor to bring the stock trailer to the narrow end of the make-shift pen.  I backed it up tight against the bus and flatbed trailer.  My big question was how was I going to separate Curly from the cows.  That problem all but took care of itself.  When I entered the winter pasture, the cows took-off running into a north paddock.  The bull walked at his own pace – he was in no hurry.  I simply closed the gate behind the cows and let Curly walk to my new little holding pen.  As long as the cows where on one side of the gate, Curly wasn’t going anywhere.  I quick unhooked the stock trailer from the tractor and with the bale-forks already on the front of it, I grabbed an old 12′ wood gate.  I then placed the gate between the semi-trailer and the fence, trapping Curly in the corral.

I put oats, hay and water in the stock trailer, but the bull would not move away from the gate, where the cows were standing.  I then opened the front side door of the cattle trailer, thinking if Curly say light in the trailer, he would be more apt to go in… I was wrong.  He only wanted to be with “his” cows.  OK, I will chase the cows down the lane and into the pasture there we just in.  If there were away from the gate and on the other side of the stock trailer, perhaps the bull would go to the trailer,  find the food and water and I would have him.  Good plan right?  Yep…

So with the cows nearly to the far end of the lane and entering the paddock, adjacent to the winter pasture, I heard some low toned mooing.  It was Curly.  He had somehow gotten out of the holding pen I had him in.  What the heck, man!  I quick turned the cows around and tried chasing the them back to up the lane and to the gate are they were just standing at.  With the tractor (and the gate in front of it) I tried chasing Curly back to where the cows need to be.  If Curly would move, so should the cows.  I quickly found out that the cows didn’t want to move without the bull leading the way and the bull didn’t want to move with out the cows.  It was like pushing a wet noodle – VERY FRUSTRATING!!!  After about 40 minutes of pissing around, I got both the bull and the cows near where they needed to be.  URGH!   I then called Carol and suggested I desperately needed her help.

While I waited for Carol to walk to the paddock, I had noticed how the bull was able to escape from his holding pen.  It seems he simply walked into the trailer and out the open side door of the livestock trailer.  It seems I had left it wide open.  Needless to say I closed it ASAP.  Then Carol came.  I told her to call the cows… I needed them to move past the lane so that Curly would move a bit further and into the temp. corral.  It worked.  I quick drove the tractor and gate behind Curly, trapping him once again.  Looking for a way to get to the cows, he took-off to the opposite end of the holding pen and into the trailer.  I quick jumped off of the tractor, then to the stock trailer, closing the end-gate.  Curly was now housed neatly and safely in the the trailer, waiting for his ride back to his real home.  I borrowed Farmer Mike’s big Ram truck to haul Curly.

Good bye stud.

This is a Sept. photo of Curly with a few of his favorite girls

Although we had the bull for 4 months, I question if he got all our cows bred.  Kaitlin, our oldest cow (nearly 17-18 yrs old) came into heat 2 weeks ago.  She may simply be too old to conceive.  I’ve read articles that mention that many Highlander cows live to be 21 yrs of age, producing 18 healthy calves.  We may not be so lucky.  She should have been bred months ago.  I am also questioning if our bull Sampson is a dud or not.  When I turned our heifers in with Curly, after being with Sampson, they never seemed to come into heat.  It appears Sampson may have done the job.  I guess we’ll find out this next spring.

Related posts:

1. An Aunt Of A Friend Of A Friend – No Bull.
2. Green Day
3. The Cattle Are Out