This is a picture of my Annie, that we took about 5 months ago. She is a Kerry heifer with bloodlines out of Wakarusa Ranch. Wakarusa is near Lawrence Kansas and is is owned by Clay and Patty Adams. They also raise both Dexter and Kerry Cattle with an emphasis on Beef. Patty has been kind enough to talk to me on the phone and is a wealth of knowledge about both beef characteristics and bloodlines of each breed.
Since this picture was taken she has been dehorned and grown quite a bit. As Annie is bigger than the Dexters she is definitely the herd boss. She lives with three Dexter heifers and each morning I let them out of the barn to pasture and bring them back each night.They like the pattern, and by sundown they are waiting at the gate to come home. Cows like routine. Each heifer spends the night in her chosen spot in the loafing pen. Annie lays near her Dexter cousin Alice and about once a week she gets up, stretches, and defecates on Alice's back. If I was getting pooped on every few days, I would find a new spot to lie down!
One of the things I like about this batch of heifers is their docility. When I was young, I thought wrestling wild cattle was fun. As I get older, I can't move as fast and I am much more cautious. With good calm stockmanship on my part, these heifers are much easier to handle than commercial beef heifers I have owned.
I had to laugh out loud when I heard about Annie's rather inappropriate bathroom habits! Poor Alice.
ReplyDeleteHow do you dehorn the cattle, once the horns have grown? Does it cause them pain? I know about polling calves, using that caustic paste, but that's done before the horns have grown. Once the horns have grown, do you just saw them off? Pardon my ignorance ;-)
Hi Brenda,
ReplyDeleteGreat Question!
The matter of horns deserves a post on its own.
Hi Brenda,
ReplyDeleteGreat Question!
The matter of horns deserves a post on its own.
Great, I will look forward to your post on horns and dehorning!
ReplyDelete