2020 Calves

30the July 2020

When we tell people about commoning farming and the process of rearing our cattle on the New Forest, they are always quite astounded that we don’t lose them. Well we do, but we usually have an idea where they roam and it just takes a bit of driving around.

We are all creatures of habit and routine and this is no different to cattle. When food is good, they head for lush grazing, when the weather is poor, they take shelter in dense areas of the forest, and when it’s cold but sunny, we will find them on high ground soaking up the sun.

What’s not naturally driven by the weather however, is the habit of showing off new offspring. When the cattle disappear in search of fresh spring grass we may not see them for a couple of months, but within a few days of giving birth they wonder past the farm gate to present their new offspring. Very proud mum’s and great to see.

What the mum’s don’t appreciate however is what we do next. Just like humans we have to register the calves birth and fit identification tags, and all the male calves need to castrated as we can not have young bulls running a muck in the forest.

The process does not take long and before you know it, mum and calf are back in the forest but like all mum’s, they are protective and are keen to whisk them away.

The calves wonder what these yellow things are dangling from their ears and the boys wonder what the tingling sensation is down below.

It doesn’t take long for them to disappear into the forest, and in the coming months we may see them occasionally with their heads in the verges or wandering across the heathland.

Its a nice life.