Cows in the Corn

As another wonderful summer ends, we begin preparing the animals for the fall and winter months. The sheep are brought in from the field, and the mules and donkey are moved into a winter pen. We put our cows in the harvested corn field! After being in the grass fields all summer, the cows enjoy the dried kernels of corn missed by the combine. Corn provides them with a good balance of protein and carbohydrates. It also makes them fat, keeping them warmer in the winter.

Moving the cows is a big job, however they are one of my favorite animals to move. We begin by installing the electric fence. As one person walks ahead putting the metal fence posts into the ground, another person walks behind and installs the insulators, two per post. Following the second person, comes the stringing of electric fence poly-wire. The two strands are then attached to the insulators around the entire fence.

Once the pen is complete, and before moving the cows, we test the fence with the electric fence tester. It should be shocking at around five to seven thousand volts. If it is shocking below three thousand, then there is probably a place shorting out somewhere. It is necessary to repair the short out with a new piece of string.

Once the fence is ready, it is time to get the cows! This is one of the hardest and sometimes most frustrating parts of the whole job. We take a bucket of grain and gather all the cows together. All the cows must be herded into one group before being led to the new grazing area so that none of them get left behind in the old pen.

Since all the calves that were born this year have never been out of this pen and know that it shocks, they are a little hesitant to cross though the gate. This is when the trouble starts. When the gate is opened, the adults eagerly follow the bucket of grain, but the calves lag behind in the old pen. As the cows get farther away, the calves start to panic and begin running all over the pen looking for the others. We try herding them to the gate, but they refuse to pass through. In the end, the calves either go through the gate, or break down the fence and run to the rest of the cows a different way.

Once the cows enter their new pen, they begin happily eating the bits and pieces of the corn that they find. As we closed them up into their new pen, an old nursery rhyme popped into my head.

Little boy blue, come blow your horn.

The sheep’s in the meadow,

The cow’s in the corn.

But where is the boy who looks after the sheep?

He’s under the haystack fast asleep.

Since it is my job to care for the sheep, it was perfect! Except, I was not under a haystack fast asleep. Nevertheless, the sheep were in the meadow, and the cows were now in the corn.

~Samuel