may calving

[calenso]

Following up on the donkey theme. I tried two. They and the coyotes got on fine after a while. The coyotes would roam right through the cattle, one even walked up to the donkey to give it a sniff. No action from the donkey. Now we have a llama. Won't even let the farm dogs get close without chasing them, even after seeing the same dogs for 8 months. Have also watched him march right up to a pair of coyotes just lately-- finally lying down between the two so he could relax and watch them. They finally left.
Be pepared for the cows to have a fit when they first see a llama. It took our cows 2 full weeks before they'd stay in the same side of the quarter with ours. The other thing that's amusing is how the llama will pester the bull.

[bob-b]

funny how cows will "make strange" my brother comes to do his chores the odd time and it takes awhile for them to get used to him

[rusty1]

We used to calve on green grass when I was a kid. We never knew what calving problems were nor had we ever heard about scours. Then the peer pressure to calve earlier and earlier and what do ya get. Yeh higher weaning weights, but higher feed costs and sicknesses, not to mention the extra cost's incurred to get the cows to adequately cycle back and milk. We think we're smart to manage things "better". But a one old wise rancher told me "if ya mess with nature it's goin ta cost ya". Why do you think the good Lord has the wild life calving on green grass. The natural available nutrition is designed to be cheap through the winter and cheap when it turns green.