Locker day
On Sunday we took the last of the Spring '08 beef to the locker. This has been a weekly chore for the past 5 weeks. It's not my most favorite chore. It can be dangerous, and I always feel like a bit of a traitor.
Here's the group - 9 yearlings plus 1 finished heifer.
We walk them into a sort of roundpen and sort off the one we want.
Here's the heifer we're looking for.
Matt points the way to the chute.
She takes a look...
and heads that way. She's got to walk through the corncrib alley and then into the livestock trailer. Matt runs in after her, trying to keep her momentum going. "Be careful!" I remind him. "I don't want to be a widow!"
She kicks up her heels, wheels around and comes running right back out. Yikes, scary!
At this point I put down the camera so I could be of a little more help. We repeated this start into the alley, change my mind, run back out routine many, many, many times. So then we decided to bring in another calf. Having a buddy that wasn't afraid of the alley got that heifer going where we needed her to go and finally we were off.
3 years ago:
The List
Here's the group - 9 yearlings plus 1 finished heifer.
We walk them into a sort of roundpen and sort off the one we want.
Here's the heifer we're looking for.
Matt points the way to the chute.
She takes a look...
and heads that way. She's got to walk through the corncrib alley and then into the livestock trailer. Matt runs in after her, trying to keep her momentum going. "Be careful!" I remind him. "I don't want to be a widow!"
She kicks up her heels, wheels around and comes running right back out. Yikes, scary!
At this point I put down the camera so I could be of a little more help. We repeated this start into the alley, change my mind, run back out routine many, many, many times. So then we decided to bring in another calf. Having a buddy that wasn't afraid of the alley got that heifer going where we needed her to go and finally we were off.
3 years ago:
The List
posted by sugarcreekfarm at Tuesday, March 11, 2008
6 Comments:
It's kind of nice to know that even farmers have feelings of concern and a type of loyalty towards their meat animals.
This post made me a little sad, but also glad to know that farmers are truly human, too.
It does make you feel like a traitor, doesn't it? But then again, think of the over population of cows if we didn't turn them into yummy steaks and roasts. . . .
Kris
Don't you have a yappy dog that could help in the process? If not I've got two Chihuahua's that think they're monsters. They'd made quick work of getting that heifer into the trailer!
- Suzanne, the Farmer's Wife
Nothing like a Judas goat to simplify farm life. :)
twinville - it is a little sad, after caring for and nuturing these animals for 19 months. But I also feel good that for that 19 months we gave them the best possible life we could, and they got to graze and run around and live like cows :)
qs - good point!
zanne - We've got the shepherd, but she's still in training and also she hurt one of her front feet and is quite gimpy at the moment. I'd love to see Chihuahua's herding cattle - what a hoot!
gin - Judas, hee hee :)
My daughter got mauled by a cow last week. She's having a hard time getting back in the saddle. Glad your hubby got out of her (heifers) way in time. Cattle have a mind all their own don't they?!!
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