We have some VERY happy cows. Having decided yesterday we wanted to let them back into the 4-acre field, we agreed today that there was no time like the present!!! Parsley was out first (naturally) and within seconds all five were heads down eating the grass in the collecting area. Several minutes later, it seemed to dawn on them that the gate OUT of the collecting area was open and they were free to go.. and so they did, kicking and leaping in a way that seemed (as the photos show) to totally defy their weight and shape. Cows certainly know how to show their emotions. It was extraordinary to watch them as they then took off and ran all the way to the bottom of the field, scattering sheep and alpacas as they went. We quickly got the electric fencing in place and in time, the cavorting around stopped and they settled down to eat grass. The sheep (and Neptune, who very quickly learnt how to duck), can go under the electric fencing but that is fine, even desirable, as it means for the moment, the grazing is really spread across the whole field. We don’t want to cows up at the top just yet though as it is still soggy in places and indeed on their way down, they left a fair few ‘divots’ which Jack just about coped with – telling herself that they will disappear... eventually!
In letting the cows out, it really felt as though this was the start of spring: today has in fact been really warm, up to 12°C we believe. The hope now is that we can get the sheep and alpacas back into the 3-acre by the start of March and then revert to strip grazing the cows so that the grass really gets a chance to grow….