Post by Tamara on Feb 26, 2017 0:22:09 GMT -5
I was absolutely mortified to find Fred in the neighbour's paddock this morning. There was one snapped top wire so I assume he jumped over. I am puzzled as to why he did it though, general bull-ish dumb behaviour aside. This neighbour has just one bovine - a young handraised steer, whom up until a week ago lived in the houseyard, but was recently released into the 'big paddock' which borders our back paddock. He's very lonely and spends most of his time at the fenceline close to my cows and moos whenever they wander too far away. He and Fred seemed to become fast friends in particular.
There are no other cows around atm as everyone sold off their herds. So Fred definitely wasn't searching for a cow in heat. The neighbour has more grass than us so my first thought was maybe Fred wanted the grass. But I don't think he's that desperately hungry. And he gets a bucket of oaten hay every morning. He was eager to come back for his hay and to see his girls. When I found him he was sleeping by the fence with the neighbour's steer. His ears were all wet and I watched while I milked and he let the steer stand there and suck/lick his ears like a calf. Could Fred just have jumped over to be with the steer? It seems so weird. Fred has NEVER even tried to test the fences. Even last year when there was considerably less feed and more neighbouring cows to chase. Even when I take his girls away to graze the houseyard, he just stands by the fence and watches.
Can a bull be enamoured with a steer? The only experience I have is when I leased the dexter bull, and he hated MacLeod, the steer I owned at the time.
I am very disappointed that he escaped but I will give him another chance just in case it was a freak occurrence. Plus I really want Nimue and hopefully Tallulah bred before deciding to sell him. Electrifying the fence is not an option as here are hundreds if not thousands of metres of fenceline in this paddock.
There are no other cows around atm as everyone sold off their herds. So Fred definitely wasn't searching for a cow in heat. The neighbour has more grass than us so my first thought was maybe Fred wanted the grass. But I don't think he's that desperately hungry. And he gets a bucket of oaten hay every morning. He was eager to come back for his hay and to see his girls. When I found him he was sleeping by the fence with the neighbour's steer. His ears were all wet and I watched while I milked and he let the steer stand there and suck/lick his ears like a calf. Could Fred just have jumped over to be with the steer? It seems so weird. Fred has NEVER even tried to test the fences. Even last year when there was considerably less feed and more neighbouring cows to chase. Even when I take his girls away to graze the houseyard, he just stands by the fence and watches.
Can a bull be enamoured with a steer? The only experience I have is when I leased the dexter bull, and he hated MacLeod, the steer I owned at the time.
I am very disappointed that he escaped but I will give him another chance just in case it was a freak occurrence. Plus I really want Nimue and hopefully Tallulah bred before deciding to sell him. Electrifying the fence is not an option as here are hundreds if not thousands of metres of fenceline in this paddock.