Wednesday 6 November 2013

A Cautionary Tale.

In our field, let's call it Field A, there are thirteen heifers, destined to go to the Christmas market for beef.   They are young and are fattening nicely and it is not intended for them to get in calf, hence their being housed in our fields, well away from the bull on their farm (the farm opposite ours belonging to a friend, who rents some of our fields for just this purpose.)

The day before yesterday their owner went into the field to feed them their cattle nuts, as he does every morning, and he noticed a lurking presence in the corner of the field.   Yes, you have guessed it.   In the next door farmer's field was a young, agile Aberdeen Angus bull with his entourage of heifers.   Presumably all of them have been 'bulled' and are in the early stages of being in calf.

The said bull was 'leaning heavily' against what looked rather like a flimsy piece of fencing and he was eyeing one particular lady heifer with a roving eye.   Taking no chances the farmer filled one of the feed basins with feed, shook it to attract their attention and walked off across the field towards the gate into the next field.   They followed eagerly.   He led them through that gate, across another field and into our paddock - i.e. two fields between them and the bull.  So they are now in Field C.

Yesterday morning he noticed that one of these heifers had indeed come into season.   Any longer and Mr Bull would have undoubtedly pushed down the fence and made his amorous advances.   All goes to show that farmers need to keep a sharp eye on things all the time.

17 comments:

MorningAJ said...

Oh that's great! I didn't realise that bulls were clever enough to work out which it of fence to lean on. Just goes to show what a few natural instincts will do!

angryparsnip said...

hahahahahaha what is that old saying ... the best laid plans of mice and men..
Love is in the air and it isn't even Valentines Day. I can see the old cartoons where heart are popping out of the eyes.

cheers, parsnip

Heather said...

Never a dull moment!

John Going Gently said...

Romance rears it's ugly head eh?

Em Parkinson said...

Love is in the air indeed!

Gerry Snape said...

...that's another way of singing the old song..."leaning on a lamppost on the corner of the street in case a certain little lady goes by...oh me ...oh my..."!
clever old bull!!

Rachel Phillips said...

A farmer was killed by his bull in Norfolk this week.
Another cautionary tale indeed.

Terry and Linda said...

Ahhh. Yes the do! And nothing worse to separate is a bull heading toward a cow in heat...I'm glad he was able to get it done!!!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

Frances said...

You've written this so well. As a city dweller, I do rely on experts like you to educate me about what I sometimes think of as a countryside where nature allows all to go forward with style and grace.

Best wishes.

Liz said...

Our bull used to clear a seven wire fence just to get too our neighbours heifers three paddocks over. In the end my neighbours decided he would do for tailing off the heifers, and then he was sent off to the freezing works. No more bulls for me - ever. I hope none of those hiefers are in calf. Bulls...they never change.

jerilanders said...

Thank goodness they don't jump, climb and crawl under fences, as do goats. We had an amorous rake on the neighboring property who took full advantage of all my nannies until his Master took him away to parts unknown.

Virginia said...

Your post reminded me of my days at boarding school in the very early 1960s, when one afternoon, without any warning or explanation the nuns suddenly declared we were all going on a long walk... I had a pony at the school and figured out after we got back that the reason for the sudden departure of 125 girls was that the bull was in the cow paddock!! They didn't want to have to do the biology lesson that would have been needed! Only two or eight classes would have had any chance of seeing anything interesting, but those nuns were taking no chances!!

How times have changed - and for the better, don't you think?

Arija said...

You bet they do!!!

Willow said...

That must be why they call pushy overbearing people "Bullies" lol

Gwil W said...

Your farmer is a wise man. I know a farmer in the Lune Valley who received a nasty injury from a bull he treated a bit too casually and failed to fasten it up properly. They say you can walk through a field if the bull is there with the cows but I wouldn't like to try it.

The Weaver of Grass said...

All the heifers have gone this morning, following the feed bucket they walked quietly back to their barn and are now in for the Autumn to fatten up further.
Thanks for calling - do call again.

Cloudia said...

A man who knows his business!