We decided to move Bessie and Beef up behind the house.
Ted put in the temporary posts and ran one string of electric wire around the patch of trees and through the backyard field. Then he decided to move them up the driveway without any electric line on the sides of it. I really didn’t think it would work….
…and so I stood at the top of the driveway watching (and honestly waiting to hear Ted start yelling when the cattle got loose and ran the other direction).
Look closely…Bessie is just coming around the curve!
I couldn’t believe how quickly he was able to move them up the driveway. He says the key is to apply a little pressure by moving towards them and waving his arms a little at them, almost like he is shooing them away. Then the next step is to back the pressure off so he just stops walking. When they stop moving, that’s when he moves forward again.
Ted carries a stick to appear bigger and extend his arm length, but we never hit our cattle EVER.
It works! The cattle are never stressed when they move pastures or fields with Ted.
Beef loved the walk up the driveway. He nibbled on everything as he walked up.
This photo was right before Beef got happy and just lost his mind. He was perfectly fine topping the driveway…
…and Bessie was fine topping the driveway…
…and then Beef sauntered inside the fenced area…
.. and then he just lost it. I’ve only seen him that happy once, and that was the first day we got him when he realized Bessie was in heat (he was soooo happy that day).
He took off galloping all the way behind the house and then back again. It was like listening to a train speed away and then race back toward me. Ted had closed the fence wire, and Beef just did a little skip and was over it – LOOSE IN THE DRIVEWAY! It was like watching a huge dog jumping around – and like watching one of those rodeo bulls come flying out of its pen. He kicked his back legs up and around, spinning and just enjoying himself so much.
Ted fastening the electric rope back quickly
Ted grabbed the rope and unhooked it and yelled at Beef, and Beef just froze. Then he made his little mewing noise at Ted, and he walked right back in the fenced area, and Ted closes the fence again. Needless to say, Ted hooked up the electric charger pretty quickly.
Getting the ground rod in there
I yelled at Beef a couple of times when he came barreling down the hill, but he didn’t hop out of the fence anymore. He sure did enjoy himself though, rubbing on all the little scrubby pine trees in the back yard, and munching on all sorts of clover.
Bessie was a good girl, just like always
