the heifer and the rest

One in this herd is our heifer: a young female cow who has not yet had a calf. For long term health and fertility it is recommended that we wait until she is closer to 2 years old before breeding her. An online search of reasons to wait for breeding her reveals many horrors of early pregnancy and we would love to have her for a long time. No bulls will be visiting as she will only be a year in August. No IVF either!

In this paddock the grass was a bit much. We have had the herd all over the farm once this year, but this was not visited since May and that grass was high! 

When the count was made yesterday there was one missing. A search ensued, a bit of head scratching and self doubt: just how many do we own again? And then, there it was, our complete herd all present and accounted for. 

Usually July brings unrelenting heat and little to no rain. Since it has rained some amount almost every day and still been sunny, the grass and everything else has grown like crazy. Water and sun in a steady mix makes for fat and happy cattle herds with much to choose from. They actually prefer the growth shorter, soon enough they will catch up with it and level it out.