Say goodbye boys

A sad, quick post...I had to say goodbye to our Angus steer...there was simply not enough grass for them (due to the drought) and we were starting to pay more for the hay than we had for them!

Males (of all species).

2y.old and I have recently had the job of delivering hay to the six boys (Angus steer) as there is just not enough grass (still not enough rain!!).  We were using 'Mummy's tractor', the ride-on mower with the trailer, but this was only delivering a couple of mouthfuls to these big boys!  Now I have to hook up the car trailer daily, drive through numerous gate and paddocks, fill the trailer with hay and avoid the other boys (Alpacas) from escaping to see the girls, and then drive back through gates and paddocks to deliver the boys' lunch.

A year ago...

A year ago...

CONGRATULATIONS to us!!!! We survived the first year of country living and although we didn't kill any of the animals, we did lose a lot of vegetables LOL!!  WOW, time has passed so quickly (goodbye matching nails and shoes!) and it is hard to remember what we have done...

Hot boy!

Eclipse enjoying a cool-down

Fingers crossed - we have rain forecast for tomorrow.  We are averaging 30 deg everyday, and yesterday we had a bit of an emergency...the water stopped re-filling into the troughs in the alpaca and cow paddocks :( 

And then our new cow jumped over the fence...

Cast - Me (Mum), Husband, 18y.o Daughter, 15y.o Son

Starring - Brock, Brian, Brendon and Bevan (our new Angus 12mth old steers)

We said goodbye to Jack and Jill (the two on-loan goats) on Saturday, and hello to our four new 'little' boys Brock, Brian, Brendon and Bevan.  The boys had recently been weaned from their Mum's and were dropped off in the wood paddock.  Daughter and I had been shopping for 15y.o's birthday cake, so when we arrived home 22mths was covered in mud and four cows were bellowing for their Mum's in the paddock!

Reading cattle tags

Cast - Me (Mum), Husband

Starring - Bill and Ben (20mth old Angus steers)

We had yet to register Bill and Ben to our property, and unfortunately the lady that sold them to us did not know the numbers written on their ear tags.  This meant that Husband and I had to read and then register the ear tag numbers.

Cows in the night

Cast- Me (Mum) & Husband.

Starring - Bill & Ben - 19 month old Angus steers

One thing I never thought I would do - go searching at night for two young steers in 17 acres of paddocks, armed with a torch and a bucket of chaff!  Last night we did just that (see... much more exciting than watching TV!). 

Just yesterday morning...

Cast - Me (Mum), 18 year old daughter, 14 year old son, 20 month old son and two 18 month old Angus steer.

Yesterday started with a bang, one of the 18 month old steers had gotten out of the paddock (well, how am I supposed to remember to turn the electric fence back on - I'm still new to this farm life?) and was trying to assimilate himself with the bulls in the neighbour's paddock.  My first notification of the escapee was my daughter interrupting my hectic aerobic session in the lounge (I am aiming to 'shed and shred' with Jillian Michaels - although looking more like 'lump and bump'), pouring with sweat and cross when my body simply will not contort to those positions, much less jump up and down in them.