oh no oh no no no no

[rockridgecattle]

okay so the father in law looks out his window and that herd we moved two days ago is having a rough start on summer pasture. There they were out on the hay land. As if the hay is not short enough due to a spring drought, exessive winds and cool weather.

So on the bikes we go, to get them back in. They see us coming and head to the pasture....oooohhhh, they knew they were bad.

But here they went and bust three good fences. 3 strand barb wire, bent over a 6" treated post. The fence was even hot!!! Here we find out from out neighbor there has been a big bear out around here...they got spooked. They bust 2 gates, and three fences.
So now I have to go to work, father in law and neighbor stay at the fence, hubby brings me home to do my bus route, and get fencing suplies. He starts to head back out. Here we have 6 hives swarm on us. Now he has to go catch swarms.

In they end we caught 6 swarms, two of them absconded from the hive, father in law fixed fence, neighbor (kid needing to make some cash) got a ride home from an egg customer who lives in the same area.

but there is more to this blessed story. After we get the swarms settled we decide to have supper, a quick one cause we have to check and see if any animals got hurt from the bear. We stop at the father in laws and he tells us the cows are separated between the north and south quarter pastures.(they were to be in the south for a few weeks and then the north) So now we have to chase cattle back. We head out, and dang it if you would know it the two bulls bust a third gate.
And they have only been there for two days. At this rate come September we will have repaired every inch of the good fence if this keeps up.
As for the bear, hubby is keeping a gun with him, and natural resources is bringing a bear trap today. So much for putting hives on that quarter.

 

[rockridgecattle]

We have very few herfords. We have gentle cattle as the nuts ones are in a pasture all their own waiting on weaning to be shipped. And they will be shipped seens how they do not have a bull to service them.
Most of our cows we can scratch if we wanted to and some special ones like suzzie love bread.
How can you plan for a bear attack. DNR will only provide traps when there is a problem, and we have been working at clearing bush since the last attack 5 years ago. Cows get a little stressed and scared when a bear comes along. Fences, no matter how good some how do not seem to stand up to a herd of cattle that have been spooked. And even the most gentlest of animals is going to fence crawl when they are on the run!

bulls will be bulls, aged 5 and 3, and after a hard day of bear scares are bound to be a little stressed.

It was just an all round bad bad cow day...with some bees in the mix

 

[J. T.]

Seems as though yall do not plan ahead and maybe need to get some more gentler cattle. Sounds like them herfs you got are pretty wild. My cattle got out once. They all saw me and ran back to the very back of the farm. There was a fence down in the one side pasture they were in from where a tree had taken it out. I opened the gate to the field beside it and me and the dog herded them all back in there. Easy as pie and only took a couple minutes.

TNMasterCowBoy, you've got an answer for everything, don't you? Did you not read where there was a bear involved? Gentler cattle, indeed! Let's see how you, your cows, and dog react to a bear in the pasture. So, pray tell, what is your contingency plan in the event of a bear on the farm?

 

[kerley]

JT, Excellent post, you beat me to it. Tom :cboy:

 

[ToddFarmsInc]

...Gentler cattle, indeed! Let's see how you, your cows, and dog react to a bear in the pasture. So, pray tell, what is your contingency plan in the event of a bear on the farm?

ya, in this situation, gentler cattle would be worse. I had an orphan yearling calf get mauled by a rotwieller because it was too tame, and didn't have the god given instinct to take flight when a preditor got into the pasture. Sometimes you want cows to have just a wee bit of "wild" in them.

So rockridge, you have bees huh? have you been experiencing any of that stuff going around, colony collaps or whatever they are calling it? I have thought about getting a few hives for myself and all the fruit trees in the area, but I'm afraid of gambeling a lot of money into a setup just to have my bees dissappear in two months.

yep, anyone who's been farming all their life knows..... some days are like that.

(did I ever mention the time that a group of a half dozen yearlings wandered into the wrong pasture during a pretty harsh winter, and walked out onto a frozen pond and took a swim? By the time I found them, the live ones died from hyperthermia after they were pulled out of the water, lost them all. See.....your bear scare doesn't seem so bad now. :banana: )

 

[L Weir]

I must say, I m glad we live where there aren't bears, coyotes or mountain lions to worry about chasing the cattle. The cattle here are afraid of horses. We don't have them here,but on occasion someone will ride by on one.

 

[hillsdown]

Holy shmoly RR a bear. Now that is scary. Good thing your animals had the sense to get out of there.

Glad everyone is OK. and they get that fella before he snacks on someone or their livestock.

 

[rockridgecattle]

Todd farms, we have not experienced CCD. Canada had high and severe losses in areas. Most of the problem was high mite levels and a new strain of a disease of nosema. we lost 25% of our hives due to the long cold winter and varroa mites. But if you want to try some hive, try 2. It's a cheap learning curve. I would recommend these hives be bought with new equipment (hive boxes and frames) and go to a disease free (AFB) beekeeper for a couple of nucs. Check with the local ag office as to who test bees to get information on beekeepers with no American Foul Brood (AFB). Here is a beek forum with lots of advice
http://www.beesource.com/forums/index.php


Hillsdown, in 2002 we lost a calf in the same pasture. But we did not think bear. In 2003 we had a drought. No berries and no real food source for the bears. There were a several bear attacks in the province. We lost a cow to a bear. We found the remains and preditor insurance through the province decline the claim due to not enough evidence as well as they said bears do not attack they scavange. This time we are not wasting any time and getting DNR in with a trap. We talked to a neighbor today who stopped in for a visit. They saw the bear 1/2 mile away on the same road in the morning. All accounts from the neighbors say its a big brute. Before the previous owner of the land passed away, he told hubby that he had lost several animals over the course of 80 years of farming to preditors.
We have a neighbor who is about 4-5 miles as the crow flies away. They have lost 30% of their herd, including bulls to timber wolves. It's getting hard to keep them safe.

 

[ToddFarmsInc]

Thanks for the link!~ :tiphat:

 

[msscamp]

Seems as though yall do not plan ahead and maybe need to get some more gentler cattle. Sounds like them herfs you got are pretty wild. My cattle got out once. They all saw me and ran back to the very back of the farm. There was a fence down in the one side pasture they were in from where a tree had taken it out. I opened the gate to the field beside it and me and the dog herded them all back in there. Easy as pie and only took a couple minutes.

TNMasterCowBoy, you've got an answer for everything, don't you? Did you not read where there was a bear involved? Gentler cattle, indeed! Let's see how you, your cows, and dog react to a bear in the pasture. So, pray tell, what is your contingency plan in the event of a bear on the farm?

:clap: :clap:

 

[ALACOWMAN]

...Gentler cattle, indeed! Let's see how you, your cows, and dog react to a bear in the pasture. So, pray tell, what is your contingency plan in the event of a bear on the farm?

ya, in this situation, gentler cattle would be worse. I had an orphan yearling calf get mauled by a rotwieller because it was too tame, and didn't have the god given instinct to take flight when a preditor got into the pasture. Sometimes you want cows to have just a wee bit of "wild" in them.

So rockridge, you have bees huh? have you been experiencing any of that stuff going around, colony collaps or whatever they are calling it? I have thought about getting a few hives for myself and all the fruit trees in the area, but I'm afraid of gambeling a lot of money into a setup just to have my bees dissappear in two months.

yep, anyone who's been farming all their life knows..... some days are like that.

(did I ever mention the time that a group of a half dozen yearlings wandered into the wrong pasture during a pretty harsh winter, and walked out onto a frozen pond and took a swim? By the time I found them, the live ones died from hyperthermia after they were pulled out of the water, lost them all. See.....your bear scare doesn't seem so bad now. :banana: )

watched something saturday that was kinda funny. a lone bull dog came into the pasture toward my calve's and 4 heifer calve's {only} got together and ran it plumb out of the pasture. didnt let up till they had to stop at the fence..good too see those maternal instinct kickin' in early on

 

[CattleHand]

on the bright side you can fix fences and gates but you cant fix a dead cow. I hope those bear traps work or your husband has a good shot.

 

[rockridgecattle]

hubby is a good shot usually. The bear traps helped before, so here's hoping.