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Ranchers.net

It has been an interesting fall/winter so far. Our cows are still out on range, but the snow is over my knees and I don't sink to the ground all the way. Today with cold weather coming on and dampness in the air we did not want to bring cows home and sweat them up, so we hauled a few hay bales the 8 miles by road to our mature cows. Only one had showed up in the hour or so it took between trips and she was fat. The rest of the cows could see us but did not even bother to look up from their grazing.
This morning our home raised calves had gone through an electric gate that had shorted out and burned through and they were happily grazing swaths, leaving their bales behind.
Contrast...
The red cows we bought spent the last couple of days parked in the corral that they walk through on the way to water, waiting to be fed. They would not follow the truck out to the new swaths. Drove out with the tractor, and I guess they assumed they were being fed so came along lickety split and found the edge of the swaths we popped up with the loader. I can honestly say it has been a long time since I have seen cows standing in a corral bawling to be fed.
I know this is largely a difference in education levels between cows but it is pretty interesting to me to note the huge differences. I know there are grazing genetics out there, but there is also huge opportunity for cow teaching.
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