First let me preface this blog post with the fact that I did not almost die today. This was solely due to my expert planning and strategic measures.
The two new cows have been doing great in their pasture. They have been happily munching away and doing a great job of clearing the tall grasses. We have been keeping them in smaller paddocks through out the pasture so that they concentrate on one area at a time. This has been working well for us and the cows. They have cleared out their pasture so we wanted to move them into a closed off paddock inside Jasper’s pasture so they could take care of the tall grasses there as well. Poor Jasper cannot keep up with a whole pasture by himself!
Alayna and I had decided to run some errands and since she now has her learner’s permit, she was driving. I had her drive up to the pasture so that I could tell CJ that we were leaving. Upon our arrival to the pasture, I see that CJ has already set up a lane of electric fencing from one pasture to another. This is it; he is going to move the cows.
Now, the fencing he is using… I do not like this fencing. I do not trust it. It is small, flimsy, and only comes up to about my knees. We all know how short I am, so I have zero faith this is going to contain two large cows. I express my concerns, however, CJ decides that “it will be fine”.
I advise Alayna to put the van in park so we can watch the show. I call Lil CJ out to watch as well. I do make him get in the van and close the door. He opts for a sunroof view. Alayna expressed concerns that the cows might hurt my nice minivan. I explain to her that, 1: The cows are not angry with my van, so they will not charge us and 2: My van can move much faster than those cows so should things go south, just drive away.
Now it might sound a little strange, or an abundance of caution that my children and I hid in a minivan for this event, but for those of you that do not know the previous cow relocating event, let me tell you a story within a story…
The last time CJ tried to move our last cow, affectionately named Cow Cow, from one pasture to the other he did not use any fencing. He assumed that Cow Cow would just follow him if he had a bucket of feed. CJ’s brother Aaron was over that day, so he figured we had extra help if things went south. The kids and I were standing nearby to watch. This was poor planning on my part as a parent.
Things started off well, with Cow Cow following CJ with his bucket-o-feed. Cow Cow calmly emerged from his pasture. Once he had passed the gate and was out in the yard, he realized that he was not on a lead and that this silly man with the bucket had no way of containing him. Cow Cow was free. He proceeded at that point to happily run wherever his big ol’ cow heart led him. The particular direction that he chose was right for the kids and I. Not choosing death by cow for my kids or myself, I yelled for everyone to climb up on the huge pile of cut logs. It was the only thing nearby that we could use for safety. We all climbed quickly up and evaded Cow Cow. Only this pile of wood is not stacked well and is unstable. It is also HUGE. The logs themselves are HUGE. It starts to shift under our weight, and I advise everyone to stay perfectly still. If this wood pile were to collapse, we could be seriously injured & then trampled by our own crazy cow. This was not my brightest plan, but there we were, trying to avoid the cow and not get crushed to death via our sanctuary of choice. Cow Cow is perusing the edges of the wood pile this whole time, either contemplating bringing us down, climbing up, or possibly just wondering what the crazy farm lady is up to now.
He eventually loses interest in us and our wood pile and decides to frolic around the open yard, enjoying his freedom. CJ and his brother are now chasing him, and Cow Cow is running everywhere they do not want him to go. Cow Cow runs all the way down to our barn. The kids and I are able to climb down to safety. I decide that I need to be brave here and help the men contain the cow.
I grab a large stick nearby and head towards them. I tell myself that I can do this, cows are not killers, and by God I am a farm wife, I should be able to do this! When I arrive down by the barn, Cow Cow is between the men and I. The gate to the new pasture is open and I figure we will just kind of guide him to it. Cow Cow has a different plan. He turns to face me, and I see the twinkle in his eye. I know what he is thinking. He is about to call me out on my bravery. I hold strong, stick in hand, ready to come into my glory as a cow herding farm wife.
He then runs straight for me at a full cow gallop. NOPE! I drop that stick, turn around and run as fast as I can straight through the thick briar bushes and hide behind the bunny cage. I am not strong, I am not brave, I am not a glorious farm wife. I am a ‘scared of my own cow’ farm wife and that is how I will stay! Love me or leave me, but first… rescue me from the briars please.
I missed the rest of the adventure, being stuck in the briar bushes and all, but the men were successful at getting Cow Cow back into his old pasture. We never tried to move Cow Cow again.
So, this is my reasoning for taking an abundance of caution when CJ is about to move the TWO new cows through a tiny little rickety fence. I choose life, and the protection of my large, fast, get-away van.
CJ proceeds with his plan to move the cows while we watch from the safety of the van. It goes well, the cows get maybe halfway down and stop. Watch here 😊 https://youtu.be/gCKkRfnhcF4 They get spooked and try to turn around but hit the fence and they start to panic, running around each other, and continue to hit the fence, getting more panicked. A prime example of why I do not trust CJ when he says, “It will be fine”. Alayna puts the van in drive and is ready to roll out. I have taught her well.
CJ does not panic though, and he handles the situation well, stepping out of the fence and letting the cows run back to their pasture. His problem was that the fence lane had gotten narrower as it went along, and the cows did not appreciate that. He fixed the fence and tried again. This time he herded one cow at a time. Watch 😊 https://youtu.be/BfDSIk0V2eU He was successful, however, while he was walking the first cow through the lane, with his back turned to the other one, the second cow decided to charge him from behind. Alayna notices this and tries to warn him with her cries of “Dad, DAD, you have a cow behind you!”. CJ again handles it well, and turns to face the other cow, who stops her charging, and he is able to walk the first down, and then the other.
Success! He has done it and my children and I were able to watch safely. I think we will use the van to watch all future cow relocation events.
I will add here that CJ has a remarkable way of staying calm in these situations. We do not have years of knowledge and experience under our belts with cows, but we are learning and getting it done! Well… He is learning and doing, I am normally hiding somewhere with a stick.
I am proud of him & happy for him that he can live his dream. Another success under his belt.