We put in new posts. We patch wire. We add cross poles.
Still, we have a problem.
She breaks the fence over and over and over again. She calls Nelly and Sharlotte out to her. She wanders off. She eats the neighbour's flowers. She hides in the bush.
We fix fences. She comes home. She breaks them. Again.
We decide to try cow proofing one little section.
We add more posts. Tighten barbed wire. Start adding cross posts.
We'll trap her there and feed her hay.
Or she'll escape. Again. And laugh at us. Taunt us.
I had enough. I know that section isn't quite ready yet. And I know it's still too hot to let her hang before butchering. But I swear, if that damn cow gets out ONE MORE TIME...
And then, last night. Not once. Not twice. Three times she got out. Three times she stood in the yard whining. Twice we chased her back in.
And then... The third time...
Husband noticed something else moving in the dark. Something small and dark. Something else chasing her.
All stop. What is that?
Husband and #1 shoo it in the pasture behind her.
This morning.
In my defence, I did mention to #1 a week or so ago that she was bagging up. I figured she was either about to calve or had already calved in the bush somewhere, and probably lost it again. In my stupidity- Daddy did say last year- if she calved in the bush she'd keep breaking out to get to it.
So... Mindy will not be butchered for escaping one more time. Mindy will not be butchered this fall. She's raising a calf now. Mindy is off the menu.
What am I going to eat this winter?
oh Wendy - you got your hands full with Mindy - bahahahah! but ya - she was trying to get to her baby! that's a pretty, pretty baby? any name yet? mugaboo, mobie, mewbell? it's an "m" year right?
ReplyDeleteyour friend,
kymber
Yes, it's an M year. No name yet. We need to confirm whether it's a male or not first. Although your name choices could really go either way.
DeleteWendy,
ReplyDeleteI was starting to get annoyed and wondered if you had a Devil-cow on your hands. So, she likes to calve in the bush? Is that normal? Surely, she will settle down now that she has the calf with her? Maybe she want to have a feral calf...lol.
Was she all you had on the dinner menu this year? I guess syou will be eating roadkill bear and chicken...lol.
Normal? We're still working on what normal is. Dorie was only two or three when we bought her, pregnant, probably her first calf. She has become matron of our herd without the benefit of having had a matron to learn from. She continues to hide her babies in the same place she tried to calve the first year. So maybe it's normal for them to try calving in the same spot year after year. Which would mean that Mindy will continue to be a problem.
DeleteShe should settle down and stay put now that the calf is in the pasture, at least until next spring.
See today's post, The Menu.
Oh! I love happy, surprise endings. Delightful!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sue!
Delete