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Lesley

The Good Life continued....

By Lesley, in The Nesting Box

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Lesley Eggsistentialist

Lesley

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We haven't got bantam chicks Andrew - just ordinary chicks under a broody bantam! :lol:

 

We had a power cut last night - 2 and a half hours :evil: We weren't back on until gone 11pm :evil:

 

I think the calves names may be Ella and Billie - a bit more of Carl's input, he also chose Ermintrude and Florence :roll:

 

The calves are 11 month old black Dexters - quite small and very skittish. Photos later.

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Lesley Eggsistentialist

Lesley

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Well................. hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it?

 

We've had a disastrous day. Everything was going well until we got back with the calves. The stock trailer was reversed into the gateway we'd left in the electric fence............ we couldn't turn the electrics on until the trailer was out of the way............ The calves took one look at the fence and disappeared :shock: One went one way - one went the other :? The stockmand couldn't oack up his trailer quickly enough, by the time we'd phoned the nearest farmer for help, the trailer was off down the drive :shock:

 

Within 5 minutes all the farmers in the immediate vicinity knew we had a problem and Matthew came to help us locate them. We could see one right at the top of a neighbouring field. He went off and rounded up people to help while we searched our own land and outbuildings for the other.

 

In the distance we could see Matthews Dad in a 4x4, his sister on a horse and Matthew and friend on the quad bike. What we didn't see was the said friend about to jump on to the calf when Matthew drove away to try a different angle, leaving his friend on his backside :? Matthew shoulder barged the calf into a ditch and they managed to catch it and rope it's feet.

 

They managed to get this calf into a horse trailer and bring her here. She's now shut in the big barn.

 

The other is still missing :(

 

The one we have is now called Very Expensive Cow :?

 

The other is known as Incident No. 500 14/8/06 :roll:

 

The next field along from where they caught the first one is 120 acres of maize which is taller than the calf :? It could be October before she is seen again :?

 

We feel very stupid now :oops::oops::oops:

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theherd123 Passionate Poultry Keeper

theherd123

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OMG i really think you do need a drink now! :shock:

 

What a nightmare of a day you have had, i do hope you find the cow soon.

 

Whats the plan for this evening - more cow hunting with the neighbours? Im sure everyone will help out.

 

Please keep us up to speed with how things go.

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chocchick Effusive Egg Layer

chocchick

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The other is known as Incident No. 500 14/8/06 :roll:

 

The next field along from where they caught the first one is 120 acres of maize which is taller than the calf :? It could be October before she is seen again :?

 

We feel very stupid now :oops::oops::oops:

Oh crumbs :shock: Hope your runaway comes back to its friend. Maybe she needs time to calm down after her ordeal.

 

I did laugh at her name Incident No. 500 14/8/06 :oops: (sorry)

Hope she's OK :(

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Lesley Eggsistentialist

Lesley

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Back again!!

 

Against all the odds, Matthew saw her when he want to feed the pheasants - rounded up the posse (without his friend who was already an hour late with the milking and has a sore bum!) and they managed to catch this one as well :shock:

 

We really didn't think we'd see them again.

 

They are in the barn where we store some hay which is a shame because they should be eating just grass and not costing us money at this time of year.

 

At least we've given all the farmers in a 5 mile radius a good laugh :oops:

 

We haven't eaten or even had time for a drink of water since this morning - I've got a cracking headache. I think G&B's is called for - lots of it!!!!

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AnnieP Feathery Fanatic

AnnieP

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So glad you've at least rounded her up.

I suppose in years to come you'll be able to laugh about it.......possibly!

Good way to break the ice with neighbours though..... must remember that one.....

have a VERY LARGE bar of chocolate Lesley!

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ubereglu Golden Egg

ubereglu

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Something like that happened to my Mum's Dad on a boxing day one year when he was still alive and farming.

 

Here's the story:

It was Boxing Day and he'd got a phone call from this lady saying-Your heffers have escaped. So he quickly got up gathered a few people and managed to get them all back into their field. This took all day!

 

At least you only have two though Lesley!!! :lol::roll:

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Cate in NZ Feathery Fanatic

Cate in NZ

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Such a relief that you've managed to get them both rounded up. I'm sure that one day, eventually, you'll be able to see a funny side to todays' pandemonium, but right now that chocolate sounds like an excellent idea :D You've definitely earned it :wink:

If it was me I'd be hitting the bottle by now, so I reckon the chocolate sounds very restrained.

I hope that these calves settle in well after such an exciting start..... just their way of making an impression, and getting their bearings :shock:

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buffie Golden Egg

buffie

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What a roller coaster...just caught up and you can see that this small holding is hard work. It's just the sort of thing that happens to us Lesley and we all wish we had hindsight. Well done for getting them back and I always think we learn something don't we :wink:

 

I bet the farmers think you're feisty lesley and no quitter's :D8)

 

BBx

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Lesley Eggsistentialist

Lesley

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So are we :?

 

We were lucky in that the calves went into neighbouring fields - the other boundary of ours is the very busy Fosse Way :?

 

We had to contact the police just in case - which is why we had an incident No. We also had to contact the NFU for insurance purposes and the abattoir manager because, if there was any chance of the calves escaping on to the highway, they would have to be shot :? . That in itself would have been a nightmare - the road has to be closed!

 

We were so fortunate. We introduced ourselves to the neighbours as soon as we moved here in May and they have shown what a true community there is between farmers. On top of that, the weather was lovely - imagine doing all that in freezing rain? Carl took to drink - a well earned pint of some obscure beer - I didn't have any chocolate :shock: - I just sat like a zombie for the rest of the evening!

 

We were soooooooo fortunate and the outcome could have been so much worse. And, at least it wasn't televised like Jimmy's pigs :lol::lol:

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theherd123 Passionate Poultry Keeper

theherd123

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Oh thank goodness the other one was spotted and is now back home. :D:D

'Wild cow chase' not goose chase! :shock:

 

I can just imagine the call to the police :lol::lol: I bet they were expecting another stolen car or mobile phone not a mad cow on the loose! :lol:

 

Now do you see why the guinea pig village was such a good idea! :wink::wink:

 

Lesley your next purchase should be one of those small fridges and it should remain stocked to the brim with chocolate for days like these. :D:D

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