Most of the year, our bulls sit side by side in the paddock.
They are affectionate towards each other.
They happily share the same space, the same grass, and no doubt the same stories and a few good laughs. That's what I imagine anyway.
Then comes spring.
They start to separate off, they bellow, they push and shove, they strut around and get all macho.
Check out these two showing off. And the young guy learning how it's done, keen to get in on the action.
No need for baby oil here. The sunshine does its job, gleaming off their muscles. - I'm not sure how they get so muscular when most of the time they just sit and only eat grass. If only that worked for us.
Don't underestimate the power these animals have.
Their heads are huge.
Their shoulders are broad and their core is as solid as a tree trunk.
When we have to move our animals, cows are easy to move. Cows are mostly predictable and happy to follow the leader.
You can move a well behaved cow simply by stepping into her space and she will move away. Add a few hand signals and she will move (generally) in the direction you want.
Not so with the bulls. If they don't want to move, YOU have to wait for them. They stare you in the eye and say, “Who are you? What do you want? This is my space and I ain't going anywhere.”
As you can imagine, that can lead to some sticky situations.
That's why we select bulls for gentle temperament (not that you can tell from this video)
Yes, like humans, cattle can be predisposed to different temperaments.
Ours will happily have their head down and eat grass while keeping one eye out as you go about your business. (regardless of their body language you always want to be respectful)
Those gentle genetics are the ones we want to pass on to the next generation.
And it pays off.
We regularly handle and move our animals. While doing so, we want to be safe and we want our animals to not be needlessly stressed.
Animals we don't grow out to maturity for ourselves can be sold to other farmers to raise.
Recently we had one of these farmers call us to say “they were the best animals they ever had. So docile and would eat out of your hand.”
That's the reputation we strive for.
Whether breeding animals for us or others, breeding well mannered, gentle creatures (again, not that you can tell from this video) is overall the best way to go.
There is less stress on the animal, less stress on the farmer, and less stress on the environment.
We strive to have a great quality product from conception onwards.
Enjoy this video and marvel at the awesome power they hold and yet they are so selective in using it. Just one more lesson for us from this beautiful world.
Steph
