Yesterday we moved all the cows and calves home from the stalk field. We move them home about this time every year so we can vaccinate the calves to protect them from disease and illness and breed the cows. The stalk field is only about 3 miles from the house so instead of hauling them by trailer, we have a good ole modern day cattle drive. Since we feed the cows using the cake truck every day, they will follow it because they have associated it with feed! This is how we lead them home; they follow the cake truck. We use a 4 wheeler and ranger to keep the cattle moving and to be sure they don’t wander off the road!
There are several people involved to make sure that everything goes right and there aren’t any major disasters! Moving cattle is a family affair for us. It takes mom, dad, and I to get the job done. Mom drives the cake truck and dad and I push the cattle. We always call the police department an hour or so before we move them because there is a highway that we have to cross. When we get close to the crossing, the policeman turn on their flashing lights to block the traffic. It is important to make sure that the drivers on the road and the cattle stay safe!
Here are a few pictures…I wish I could have taken more but I was trying to push the slower cattle to keep them moving.
Feel free to comment and ask any questions if you have any!
