zephyrhillsusan
member
Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502 
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on May 30, 2014 20:51:03 GMT -5
So funny! They are SO excited and impatient! Hurry up, Dad!
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Post by ssrdex on May 31, 2014 2:07:54 GMT -5
Thanks for doing that Hans, great video! The pasture looks really nice, and the cattle seem VERY excited to be on it. Especially that little black one in front...  |
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Post by lakeportfarms on May 31, 2014 4:55:53 GMT -5
Joel, that black one in front is Rita. She's one of our first Dexters (after Mike and Cedar), is top cow and is always at the front of any line for food. She is also quite a clown, and when we have potential buyers to the farm and we're all standing in a circle talking about options for them she'll nose her way into the circle and start begging for scratches, rummaging through ladies purses, etc. I could have sold Rita a hundred times by now. Though she's no longer in the habit, I'd have to hang onto my shorts, because she'd sneak up behind me and yank them down to my ankles. Her steers have been name Joker, Jester, and Bozo. She can't be registered, unfortunately. We also have her mom, Lily.
Our pasture is really growing fast. I'm moving them through as quickly as possible, leaving a lot of grass behind hoping they'll trample it down into the ground, because it's getting close to going to seed. I don't think I've ever seen it grow so fast in the spring. Right now I need even more cows! We've even seen some ads for first cutting hay popping up on Craigslist, which is amazing considering a month ago we still had patches of snow on the ground.
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zephyrhillsusan
member
Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on May 31, 2014 8:48:52 GMT -5
Where oh where was Sheril with the video camera when Rita did her stunt? You guys could have won AFV's $10,000 prize with that one--and been in the studio with Rita!
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Post by wildberryfarm on May 31, 2014 20:48:31 GMT -5
Our pasture is really growing fast. I'm moving them through as quickly as possible, leaving a lot of grass behind hoping they'll trample it down into the ground, because it's getting close to going to seed. I don't think I've ever seen it grow so fast in the spring. Right now I need even more cows! We've even seen some ads for first cutting hay popping up on Craigslist, which is amazing considering a month ago we still had patches of snow on the ground. Just this evening the kids came in yelling "Mom, Mr. Bruce (the hay guy) is in the driveway!" Whaaat? Yep, a big wagon of fresh bales for me, and they are beautiful! I love it when the barn is full of fresh hay. It makes me feel rich. Mark says it makes him feel the opposite...lol |
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Post by lakeportfarms on May 31, 2014 22:17:01 GMT -5
Where oh where was Sheril with the video camera when Rita did her stunt? You guys could have won AFV's $10,000 prize with that one--and been in the studio with Rita! That would have been a sight! I would have done it if they used that blurry tool...lol. I can get Rita to start up again but I don't get anything done because my hands are never free with her in the pasture. Sheril was milking and wiping her hands on her shirt and pants, and Rita seemed to like the smell and it evolved from there. Rita pulled my shorts down several times in front of visitors, and it got to where I had to warn people to hang onto their pants when Rita would walk over because she would do it to them too. Yes Diana, I have to hurry to finish the lean to on the back of the building. Any pointers on where I can find the time to make it happen? Seeing what you did with that rental house of yours that you brought back from dead after your former tenants, you obviously have some secret formula! Hans |
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Post by carragheendexters on Jun 2, 2014 9:07:10 GMT -5
Oh, they are so funny. There always has to be one in the crowd. She sure has a mouth on her LOL.
Hans with your pasture growing so quickly. I know you want to keep it growing and in the vegetative state and slow it going to head for longer grazing. Have you considered, (now I recently learned that you guys have a different meaning for this) slashing it. Here in Aust, after grazing a strip, many folks will slash the pasture. Now I don't know what the equivalent is for you guys but a slasher (yes, I know, different meaning for you guys hahaha) is a 3pl implement for a tractor that is on skids and mows the pasture down. This way you can let the cows eat the eyes out of the pasture, get it down shorter and keep it vegetative. Puts more organic material back in as well.
BTW, what do you guys call such an implement?
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zephyrhillsusan
member
Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on Jun 2, 2014 9:16:39 GMT -5
carragheendexters, it's a bush-hog. That's actually a brand name, like Kleenex for facial tissues, but a lot of people use it for what you call "slashing." Or you can call it a brush-hog if you want the generic name. Languages are so funny! If we Americans pictured a slasher in our pasture, we'd be seeing a serial murder with a knife running around trying to kill people. And you're probably picturing a giant feral hog running around tearing it up! 
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Post by carragheendexters on Jun 2, 2014 9:26:17 GMT -5
Thanks Susan, I had read where people talk about a bush/brush hog and had no idea what it was. A bush pig to an Australian (in slang) is a bit of a feral young country guy. To think we all speak English, it's a wonder we can understand anything. There are some that chop the grass up real fine, and that is called a mulcher.
I'll have to post a photo of "my" slasher , the only blood is if you accidently ran over someone's foot LOL.
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Post by lakeportfarms on Jun 2, 2014 10:40:25 GMT -5
You two are funny! Yes, the terms we use are different. Like if I go out at night and want to see where I'm going I'll use a flashlight. I presume down under, like in the U.K., it's a torch. Here a torch is used to light things on fire.
Louise, I'd love to clip, or even hay which I could do a little bit even between the rows of trees, but we're still in the process of cleaning up branches upon branches of apple tree trimmings. My goal is to finally get it done this year, but it has been quite a project for us combined with everything else. I'd push it all in a pile, but there is a lot of really nice wood I can cut out of it to put in the wood stove, which comes in handy on -30 degree nights in the winter!
Our cows hate us now. I'm moving them three and four times/day so they can at least trample the grass down since I can't clip (slash) it. When I walk out there the moos have turned to groans..."not more grass ugh, you mean I have to get up?" or "what are you trying to do, make us pop?" Now is the time of year when I wish I had twice as many than I have. It will change come August for a month or two, and then it's back to hay.
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