Hi Folks,
My name is Giovanna and I live on a 5 acre ranch in northern California. The ranch was originally designed as a horse ranch with 2 pastures, an arena and a functional barn with 3 stalls.
My question is a neighbor approached me yesterday from across the street and asked me if I'd be willing to board his 4 cows. 3 are heifers and one is a bull. One of the heifers is pregnant and due in November and December. He said he will keep the 1 bull and heifer together and the other 2 separate. He is not planning on milking these cows. The cows are some specialty breed from Canada, but i'm not sure of the name.
I'm writing to ask for support about a few things. I really don't know much about this subject, but i'd like to help my neighbor out and i have the land to do it. Questions:
1. How much should i charge him to board his cows on the ranch? He will pay for all their feed and come each day to feed them.
2. What other things should i consider?
3. Fencing: My fencing around the property is pretty secure, but some boards are old - how hard are cows on fences? Do they try to get out?
4. Weather: We are at 3500 ft elevation and it snows here from December to March/April. Can cows stay out in the snow or do they stay in the barn when it snows?
5. Horseranch: So, like i said, there are 3 horse stalls - would the cows need to be in the stalls at times?
6. Bees: In one of my pastures, I have a beehive. If the cows are in that pasture, will they disturb the bees? OR will the bees disturb them? I cannot move the beehive now - it has to stay where it is and it is in the middle of the pasture.
Thanks so much for your help - i'm glad i found this forum!
Giovanna
My name is Giovanna and I live on a 5 acre ranch in northern California. The ranch was originally designed as a horse ranch with 2 pastures, an arena and a functional barn with 3 stalls.
My question is a neighbor approached me yesterday from across the street and asked me if I'd be willing to board his 4 cows. 3 are heifers and one is a bull. One of the heifers is pregnant and due in November and December. He said he will keep the 1 bull and heifer together and the other 2 separate. He is not planning on milking these cows. The cows are some specialty breed from Canada, but i'm not sure of the name.
I'm writing to ask for support about a few things. I really don't know much about this subject, but i'd like to help my neighbor out and i have the land to do it. Questions:
1. How much should i charge him to board his cows on the ranch? He will pay for all their feed and come each day to feed them.
2. What other things should i consider?
3. Fencing: My fencing around the property is pretty secure, but some boards are old - how hard are cows on fences? Do they try to get out?
4. Weather: We are at 3500 ft elevation and it snows here from December to March/April. Can cows stay out in the snow or do they stay in the barn when it snows?
5. Horseranch: So, like i said, there are 3 horse stalls - would the cows need to be in the stalls at times?
6. Bees: In one of my pastures, I have a beehive. If the cows are in that pasture, will they disturb the bees? OR will the bees disturb them? I cannot move the beehive now - it has to stay where it is and it is in the middle of the pasture.
Thanks so much for your help - i'm glad i found this forum!
Giovanna