Trials & tribulations of a herd and its boss

Being seen as the boss of all the animals is an extremely important part of looking after a herd of cattle. If the herd gets an inkling that I'm not in charge they would run riot. The two animals I am most likely to come to loggerheads with are the bull Bernard & matriarch Kitty.

Although Bernard, as the lone bull, is used to getting his own way and knows just how big he is (having broken our crush once by bending 1 inch thick metal bars), Kitty has had to defend her title repeatedly. She has to be the most ferocious when it comes to a challenge as her technical fighting ability is of extreme importance in order to be queen of the fields. A cow further down the pecking order is more likely to pick a fight when Kitty is under the weather but she cannot lose face in front of any of the other members of the herd without jeopardising her position.

Losing face in other arenas is also a serious taboo. Bernard has pride of place at the feed troughs, with Kitty a close second. When it comes to moving the cattle between distant fields, none of them particularly like going in the trailer but both have to be unflappable. It is generally easier for us to move Bernard first then leave Kitty till last, as if she doesn't want to move not a lot is going to make her!

As you work down the pecking order there are more subtle changes. Younger cows move up the ranks by challenging their elders. Because we have both horned White Parks and non-horned Red Polls the complexeties get even more confusing. Of the Red Polls it is only really Ruby who presents a challange to any of the White Parks. As the matriarch of the Reds she has to be able to stand up to most of the horned cattle, even Kitty, putting her in the top three for the overall leadership.

When a new Heffer is born they are intigrated into the herd at the same level as their mother. When they are young, the calves compete between themselves to establish a place in the herd that is above their mother's position. Bull calves also fight for practice in later life. All of which means I must avoid being between them at the wrong time to ensure I don't lose control (or the seat of my trousers!).

Jim D-H

Presenting Tallulah the Ginger Pig

Having recently turned 28 I've been reminiscing about past birthdays and more particularly past presents. One stands out from the rest - Tallulah the Ginger Pig.

Tallulah is a Tamworth sow, reckoned to be among the truest of indigenous British breeds. She was given to me by my best friend Jonny as a weaner (a young pig that has been weaned from the sow's milk). She was born on the 22 September 2005 of the Abbess Lucky Lass blood line. She is a lovable pig with a very eager personality and is very tame. She loves a good scratch along her bristly spine and is so friendly and careful with me I have no qualms about sitting beside her in her pen to enjoy the last of the summer sun.

She is also an excellent mother - she's raised four litters of piglets, averaging around eight per litter. She always seems to begin birthing in the evening so I am normally up all night prepared to be on hand if help's needed. Some sows become aggressively protective while birthing however Tallulah is very calm and quite happy for me to handle her piglets as they come into the world and to help them to find her milk for the first time.

It is a pleasure and an honour to work with Tallulah, who I've come to know as a funny and intelligent character.
Thanks Jonny :-)

For more about Tamworth pigs, check out The Tamworth Breeder's Club website.

Jim D-H

Introducing Alys...

This is Alys. She is a White Park/Short Horn cross (both breeds are on the RBST watchlist). We tend to keep only pure bred cattle to breed from, rather than crossed breeds, however we have kept her as a breeding cow because her birthday is the same as Mum's (mildly eccentric I know).

She is a friendly cow, loving nothing more than a good feed and a scratch just above her tail. Part of the reason a lot of our cows are so friendly is the time I spent with them when they were growing up. They now all come to call and are so friendly that if you don't know them you might be quite intimidated when they barge past one another to get some attention from you!

The photo was taken at around 9.30 on a Spring morning and what you can not see is her first calf off to the left of the shot. It was born sometime during the night and as with the White Parks cattle in general it seemed to be an easy private birth (they don't tend to like people around during birth so will find a more secluded part of the field and usually birth at night).

To find out more about White Park cattle, visit the White Park Cattle Society's site.

Jim D-H

With a little help from our friends

Over the weekend an old pal came to stay. Unbeknown to him, our arable land was having the final buzz with the combine so we would have to set about collecting our final quota of round bales and lugging 150 of them into and out of the trailer.

Now the friend in question is very proud of the little he does (being 28 and only just learnt how to fry an egg, no joke!!!!). He is also a rather keen architect of high standing. Upon arrival I was relieved to hear that he had come up to take his mind off his rather stressful work. 'What better way of forgetting your city troubles than by getting down and dirty doing a good honest day's labour on the farm' I suggested. This was received with a frown and some light questions about what I had lined up for him. After a few expletives he explained that he was here to help and by jove he would!

Not only did we get all the jobs done, we had time for a lovely pub lunch in Mum & Dad's award-winning local The Pheasant on Saturday, followed by a delightful slow-roasted mutton shoulder (cooked by Annabel (wifey)) on Sunday, when the parents joined us. The weekend was deemed terrific by all. I have just received word that Az can not only still smell pig poo but is still aching from all the work.

Although it's my job and doing it every day of the week can make certain parts sometimes tiresome, it always amazes me how keen friends are to lend a hand and on the whole how much enjoyment they get from doing something a little different. It also helps them work up an appetite for what is inevitably a large and delicious home grown feast, which is the least we can offer in the way of thanks.

Jim D-H