Moving from one acre to ten and having our animals in large fields is quite a sea-change for us. With no need for most of the animals to come into a barn each night, this has meant that the way we handle them and move them around is quite different. Back at Lamorna, a quick rattle of the bucket ensured a stampede and within seconds, animals would be in the barn and gates/ doors closed. Here at Cadbury, distances are greater, not all our animals are as tame as the original stock we bought with us PLUS we now have bigger stock (cows and rams) that are physically impossible to hold onto without restraints (such as halters) or keep still without secure pens/stalls.
And so today when Mr Whiteface Dartmoor Ram snuck into the bottom 3-acre field (taking advantage of us opening a gate to let a JCB through) we had serious fun and games persuading him to go back. Luckily the ewes were all in the top 3-acre field so there was no chance for any early mating!!! Nonetheless we wanted him back with the cows as firstly the JCB was doing some work for us and secondly, we weren’t totally convinced he might not leap the 4 foot fence.
He was not going to be herded back however (we tried...) and even though he then came readily to the bucket and allowed us (with a bit of persuasion) to put a halter on him, leading him back to the gate through which he escaped was not an option. He dug his heels in, got stressed and then laid down. We ended up getting the trailer and quad, loading him in and driving him back up: the least stressful option for him and for us!
We have been progressing with our thinking as to how best we can move and contain the animals and have plans to gate the pole barns, create a collecting pen in the lean-to by the barn, buy a cattle crush and as from today, create a ‘small’ paddock with a shelter, into which single animals (such as a ram or billy goat or even a poorly animal) can safely and comfortably live but also be safely and easily handled.
It's all work-in-progress…