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A Breath-taking Field TripOur family has taken many field trips over the years, but this type has to be a first for us. We've heard stories about this type of field trip, but haven't participated. We always listened politely and with empathy hoping and planning we would never experience it.We certainly have taken all sorts of field trips. Trips to historical farms, battle re-enactments, museums, oratorio's, symphanies, musicals, plays, wilderness areas, 3 week camping trip along Lake Superior through 3 states, farming conferences, history festivals, etc. were trips that were planned for and quite enjoyable. Now, I will say that the field trip we took recently was one in which we weren't charged at all...well, atleast we weren't charged financially for it. You see, we brought some new calves onto the farm. We have a system which has worked just peachy for us. It allows the current herd and newbies to get to know one another and as the newbies are let loose, the current herd shows them the boundaries and all is well here on the farm. Well, these new calves seemed as if all was well while they integrated. Quiet, gentle, no problems, until we allowed them out of their confinement and they ran swiftly toward our long driveway right through the electric fence. Meantime the older, wiser cattle (is there such a thing) who usually head them off joined them in their escapade bending metal posts as they ran through the fence. Our whole family saw part of our life (savings) pass before our eyes as we kicked into high gear and sprinted to head off the herd. We spread out and managed to stop the running and slowly herded them back into the pasture area that now had electric fence on the ground with broken posts. How did we manage to keep them in? We didn't. Atleast the original runaway calves didn't stay put for long. Not long enough for us to fix the fence anyway. So, for hours (I think, atleast it sure seemed like hours) we headed these guys off. They even split up - one took off on the north end of the pasture while the other took off on the south end of the pasture. John was left to herd one by himself while the girls and I took on the other one. And thus went our trips through the field over and over and over and over, again and again and again as we tried to figure out how to fix the fence while trying to keep them confined. We couldn't just let them run for they were heading for the road to the east side of our property and the road on the north side of the property. We didn't want pressed beef nor any pressed metal or injuries. We finally did somehow manage to fix the fence while containing and herding the runaways after many sprints up hill and cross country. It certainly was breathtaking as well as near heart-stopping. Extreme, I think is the "in" word that could describe our field trip. And, the fixed fence didn't stop the runaways. After grazing with the herd (who now ignored the runaways), they would would bawl and bawl and head for the electric fence. So now we are on the perimeters of the fence (which John made extra special hot just for them) hoping they touch it enough to get a good hard jolt. One approached the fence and touches it with his nose and we hear the spark as he jerks back. We cheer. Does that stop him? No, he and his partner touch it many times with a jerk backward. The fence is definitely hot enough. Now I'm getting very weary of these slow-learning stupid animals. I keep thinking what a joy it will be when they meet the freezer over a year from now. Over a year?? That is a long time to deal with these beasts. I was rather tired and perhaps due to the blood rush to my brain from all of the sprints, I began to remember a song that I had forgotten from long ago as a runaway began to bawl again and head toward the fence that stood between me and it. A song popped into my mind, "Stop in the name of love, before you break my heart." I did hope these bovines would stop and my heart had gotten a pretty good work-out with all those up-hill cross-country dashes... After a while, we began to learn their patterns. They would graze with the herd for a time. Then they would start bawling and that is when they headed toward the fence. So, between bawling we managed to get some things done, like chores, and when the bawling began we all headed toward the fence to head off the runaways. We did this into the evening. John even got up at night when he heard them begin to bawl. So, how and when did this field trip end? The very next day, thank the Good Lord, one of our heifer came in heat. It was enough to keep the runaway steers home for good. Atleast they haven't escaped over a week... Learning to herd animals and outsmart them, listening to instructions so you don't get trampled, working together as a team, patience and problem-solving were just some of the things we learned as a family in more depth as a result of our field trip. Hoping there will be no part two to this field trip story, The Farmer's Wife 05:18 - 2006-Oct-20 - post comment
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Description Sharing our thoughts, events, ups and downs, as we restore a once profitable farm to its former greatness as a Christian agrarian family. Home User Profile Archives Friends Lighthouse Farm Our DVD's for homesteader's Homestead Series e-books Lighthouse Farm Podcasts No NAIS Recent Entries - Pig-headed or chicken-hearted???? - Health care - the way it used to be - The Egg Hog - Back in blogdom after chasing sheep - Ode to Winter 2007 - Chicken and Hog DVD's are now finished!! - Video clip of the birth of a piglet - News about Haitian friends!!!!! - Authentic AgricultureTM - Welcome! - A Peaceful Night in the Pasture - Big Sale at The Old Schoolhouse!! - Rendering Lard - Hog Butchering Time - John Ray - Founder of Biology - A Breath-taking Field Trip - Fat and Sassy - Real Men Eat Quiche - Green Tomato Recipes - Harvest - Two Cents Worth on Pinching Pennies... - Cockle burrs and stinging nettle a blessing? - Gourmet Meals At The Farm Table - Seeds Worth Saving - Sweet cartoon - Commercial rice supply has been contaminated - Spermicidal Corn - Agricultural Science Fiction Horror Flick or Truth? - SImple Entertainment - "Gardening is like a treasure hunt!" - Pigs don't stink - Diggin' For Gold!! - Rain - a Blessing or a Curse? - My Sheep Know My Voice - er - Chain Saw... - The Old Farm Dog - An Alarming Nightime Visitor - Farming Magazine - A Pig's Nest - Meager chicken harvest - Bacon + Garlic = Piglets? - A Rare July 4th Tribute to Farmers - Fencing in more pasture - Three months on our new place.... - Blood suckers in Minnesota :( - Miss Bacon and Rocky Mountain Oysters - Sheep without a shepherd - Haying with my man! - Mink solutions, anyone? - Goat meets pig... - I Smell a Skunk... - URGENT!! Please forward!!!! - Did Adam Smell Like That? - Minnesota!!!!! - Problem solved - God is good - The Rat Trap and One Happy Girl - New Podcast - Farm Restoration - The Beginning - An Honorable Gentleman Has Died - Why teach our children about agriculture? - Cheap, Safe Food??? - New NAIS links worth reading - Old Tractors Never Die - A Lawyer comments on Constitutional Rights and NAIS - Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks - Big Bellies and Big Bags - Hosting Haitians on the Homestead - Minnesota, Here We Come (after we sell our house) and "the Chip" - And God saw that it was good - Greetings |