Post by genebo on Jan 15, 2016 3:21:54 GMT
This morning I loaded McBrenn into the trailer to go to Louisa County to breed some females. He walked right into the trailer, but turned out not to be a good passenger. It was the first time he'd ever been inside a trailer. Born here 2 years ago, he had never been away from his mother's side. He never laid down during the 2 hour ride and cried and paced from side to side. It sounded pitiful and made the trailer do the Rumba the whole way.
Things changed once we go to the destination. We parked the trailer in the pasture with the modern herd, except McBrenn was alone at one end and all the others were at the far end of the pasture. The wind was blowing so that he could smell them but they couldn't smell him. He settled down and began showing strong interest in the cattle. After a while, we brought a few of the cows to the trailer. They got excited as soon as they could see and hear him. They bucked and jumped and circled the trailer. After a while, we opened the trailer and let him out.
Noses touched, then butts were sniffed. It was love at first sight. It turned out that one of the first cows to come to the trailer was beginning to come into heat. Nobody knew it, but McBrenn let us know. He did the reflex, where he curls his upper lip. Then he mounted. Doggone if she didn't return the favor, and mount him!
Finally the rest of the modern herd came to McBrenn. There was a lot of familiarization going on. Another cow was either beginning or ending her heat cycle. There was a alot of sniffing and lip curling.
Then, one of the 4 steers decided to challenge McBrenn. A locking of horns and some hard pushing, with lots of dirt scuffing, until finally the steer conceded. A second steer tried his luck and was dispatched in short order. The other steers curtsied and acknowledged McBrenn as their leader. Peace reigned.
They continued their getting aquainted routines while we humans talked. I found out that the females of the other herd, the Traditional herd, were all bred except for two, that were held open waiting for McBrenn. They had been in heat last week, so McBrenn had a couple of weeks with the modern herd before he was needed in the other pasture.
They were impressed with McBrenn's looks. We talked about each of his outstanding features and how they would be beneficial to the calves he would sire while there. I wished that McBrenn would sire a whole bunch of calves for them while he was there.
All this was done not just to benefit the herd he will be servicing, but to remove him from Eve so she can have live service from a nice Legacy bull. Eve is Legacy qualified, so there has always been a desire to have her bred by a Legacy bull to make a Legacy calf. All 5 of her calves so far are Traditional. Four Brenns and one McBrenn calves. Eve needed some help with her feet and udder and Brenn and McBrenn provide this help. Her calves show the improvement.
With the availability of a live Legacy bull to breed Eve, I was finally able to examine the bull closely and found out that I like him. His name is Legacy Jams Dunder. He has already bred calves for other owners and they gave me high recommendations. So Dunder it will be. I'll go get him as soon as possible. Eve is capable of rebreeding in the first month, so time's a'wasting.
After I've taken Dunder back, I'l go get McBrenn and conditions will return to the same as they were yesterday.
It was a funny feeling, walking McBrenn across the pasture to meet all those cows, rubbing his back as we walked. I wondered if this wasn't how a father feels as he walks his daughter down the aisle.
