Finally some good, dry weather and the yearling bulls and heifers are wild to get at each other. I chased cows out of neighbors yards three times last week. Even barbed wire won't sooth their lust.
The vet came to vaccinate calves and we backed out of the castrations. He convinced us to leave the boys intact. You may ask why I don't have the calves castrated when they are babies. The answer is simple. I don't know if I want to keep them as breeding bulls until they are almost a year old. I keep bulls as herd bull prospects if they are of good disposition and good body structure. Wild or difficult to manage animals are scheduled for slaughter to keep them from reproducing.
This spring has produced only one bull calf and the rest heifers. That's good as I needed some replacement heifers. It's also good as I already have a buyer for the bull calf.
On the cat front, I am over run with them. A couple of months ago a little black cat with big green eyes started hanging out on the back porch, fighting my three tom cats and howling at me to feed her. I resisted for a long time, but finally gave in. I noticed she looked a little droopy in the belly like she might be pregnant.
Pretty soon another cat showed up. A tom cat with long hair. He runs as soon as I open the backdoor and hangs out in the bull barn. My three tom cats don't like him and fight him regularly.
Monday, while I was loading the tractor with hay and grain for the morning feed, I thought I saw a kitten in the bull barn.
This week on Tuesday I came home from work to find the little black cat with four kittens cavorting around the back porch. The long haired tom cat was with them as well. The little kittens are cute but ran for cover as soon as I opened the door. They all have long hair, so I guess that long haired tom is the "baby daddy". They continue to hang around the back porch as a family - mom, dad and the kids. In my experience its very unusual for the tom to care for the kitten.
I put out a plate of cat food and a bowl of milk and the whole family chowed down. I'm going to have to move the food to barn.
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