So it's the end of October and we have had a huge amount of rain, well above average, and a few warm days. This combination of warmer weather and rain has brought with it a new problem to overcome...grass...and plenty of it! It reached the point where I struggled to walk though parts of the paddock because the grass was above my waist.
The solution? Borrow some cows, 26 in fact, courtesy of my friend Steph.
I need a lot of cows for a short period of time to make sure they eat out the entire paddock (which is about 9 acres). After a couple of months, I'll have the grass under control, Steph will have slightly fatter cows, and I'll be able to put a few steers on the paddock to fatten over the summer and winter for next year.
Having never received a truck-load of cows before, the day they arrived was very exciting. A semi-trailer arrived followed closely by a rather distinctive odor. The man driving the truck clearly knew what he was doing, and not wanting to appear completely naive, I thought it best to limit my interaction with him to a nod, a smile and a polite "howdy". I figured that was a safe bet, since if I came across completely incompetent, he might be inclined to load the cows back on the truck and take them away.
Daisy (not named by me) was the first cow out of the truck. She didn't exactly do it with finesse and style - preferring instead to exit the truck and walk down the loading race backwards with the rest of the herd eagerly pushing her to get out.
For a bunch of cows who's mental capacity is pretty much limited to mooing, pooing and chewing grass, the unloading of the truck was a fairly orderly and relaxed affair. Each took their turn and after about 10 minutes the truck was completely empty...well, of cows that is. What the cows had eaten in the 48 hours prior to them making the journey to our farm was painted all up the sides and across the floor of the truck.
We left the cows in the yard for about 5 hours that day, to eat the grass down in the yards and to make sure everyone was okay and free of any injuries before sending them out into the main paddock. When we let them out, they all walked together around the boundary fence and across to the other side of the property, stopping at the dam for a drink along the way.
When they arrive at the fence on the other side, one of the cows moo'd. Then there was a moo from one of the steers on the adjacent property. Then one of the big steers came racing over the hill (and I'm not talking a cow walk - he was going like a bat out of hell). At one point I thought he was going to go straight through the fence - but fortunately he had the sense to stop.
He was followed shortly by the rest of the steers, who obviously couldn't run as fast as he could. And one by one, they all lined up along the fence to check out the new shealas that had mooooved in next door.
They sniffed and licked each others faces for a few minutes, then grew tired of each other and the cows went their way and the steers went their way and that was that.
So far they have been in the paddock for a week and have completely eaten all of the Capeweed and much of the grass, but seem to be avoiding the flowering rye grass.
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