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Heifers and donkey update

Posted By margaret on September 24, 2010

After the big cattle corral we had a few weeks ago it was time to let the calves out of the garden. We mended any fence we could see, added so many t-posts I lost count and crossed our fingers as the gate was opened. After all that…they just stood there! Three weeks prior, they wouldn’t have anything to do with the garden and then they didn’t want to leave.

I had been giving them sweet feed and they learned to love it, so I coaxed then out the gate with the bag of feed. They ate the feed and hung around the gate munching on grass for quite a while. To our amazement, they both went inside a shed we had for the livestock during bad weather. Who would have thought that!

I still feed them inside the garden so they won’t be afraid to return to their previous home (in case we need to catch them).

Because I wanted the donkeys and the cows to be BFFs, I put their sweet feed just noses away from each other, but on opposite sides of the fence. That worked out just fine. Now when I call them to eat they all come into the garden and eat next to one another. Well, at least for a while.

The donkeys eat at a slower pace than the calves, and when the calves finish they want the donkey food, so I had to separate them. Those gluttons.

Recently, I began to realize the difference in their personalities. The donkeys are so calm and mild mannered, much like cats. They are curious and very friendly. They like to hang around where they can see us outside and be certain we notice them (in case we have food). They have their favorite trees to stand under and love to eat something that must taste exquisite. Just looks like grass to me, but they love it. They will eat apples out of your hands and are just so gentle and well mannered.

Now the heiferss, on the other hand, have only been out among them for two weeks, but they are just the opposite. I should say one of them is the opposite. Heifer number 49 is so smart. If she is outside the garden fence and sees me carrying the food bag, she runs down the fence line and hot foots it into the garden to eat. The other one, number 48, just stands outside the fence and moos that she is hungry. She can’t figure out the get inside on her own. They both remind me of dogs.

Growing up I never had cats, it was always dogs. Now I’ve been around cats for quite a while the difference is between the two is striking. Dogs seem to jump and bark and be a little wild, where cats just observe. That’s how I would characterize the difference in the heifers and the donkeys.

The calves have been coming back into the garden in the afternoons to lie down beneath the trees they knew so well when the garden was home, but yesterday, sure enough they were taking the afternoon nap under the donkeys favorite trees! Yikes! In fact, as I look out the upstairs window, they are there again! The last two mornings the donkeys were quietly standing under their trees marking territory. But now, the markings have been destroyed, or at the very least ignored.

There are acres and acres of land for them to share, but the calves have taken up the donkeys favorite spot. Perhaps they are just trying to be friendly. Or could it be something else…

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