Another Hair-brained Experiment

Well, we haven't made much progress on the milking barn.  It seems that once we got the stanchion in place, and the milking commenced, I have lost all the urgency necessary for finishing the project (just a roof and some batting!). This is an ongoing theme in my life--my inability to finish.  It started as a kid, playing basketball--a pretty good first step, decent ball-handling skills, enough size and better than average hops to get to the hoop...only to end in a missed lay-up.  It all seemed to come so natural until the moment of release--a millisecond--when all the self-doubt hidden in the corners of my being manifested into an autonomic spasm.  AKA, a brick.

I digress.  This morning, Tera and I took turns running the disc on the field at Nicholson.  I started, then she took over when the kids, Maureen and I drove up St. Peter's Creek to pick up our new, 2 year old mini Hereford bull.  I don't know, yet, if he'll be a permanent addition to our herd or not, but we picked him up to service the lowline angus heifer we picked up last winter.  We also decided to keep three of our yearling beef heifers down for him to breed as well, thinking their first calf will be an easier delivery for them (and less work for us).  Below are a few photos of him with his new harem.  He's a pretty handsome fella' and probably won't have any problem following through on his duties. 

I arranged to borrow him a week or so ago.  One of my former students and I would often talk cows and I knew her grandma's boyfriend had a ranch where they raised mini herefords.  Although we don't usually deal in purebreds--our beef herd is a mix of at least five breeds including, angus, Maine anjou, saler, Hereford, charolais--the mini cattle breeds are appealing.  They eat less, are purportedly more tender because of their shorter muscle length...and their just so unique looking.  So I finally called Bert and he was more than interested in loaning us the bull.

We arranged to pick him up this morning.  Luckily the rain abated long enough to let us gingerly work him into the trailer.  He and four other bulls had been sharing a pen, so he seemed quite reluctant to go.  It ended up taking 20 minutes or more.  I've never seen one so afraid he shook, but with some goading and a little hay, he finally jumped into the trailer and Korin slammed the tailgate shut.  We drove him home through the rain and forced Tera off the tractor to come watch the introductions.  Out in all that green grass, we opened the tailgate.  He sniffed at the ground--I don't know the last time he'd seen green grass--and with a bound he was out, gnawing a mouthful of grass before his front hooves hit the turf.