Whistle trained cows

It makes sense that you can train cows, but I wouldn't have guessed it before yesterday. (this picture is sunrise, about 5:15 am)

We have about 2400 yearlings that have been here all winter. They were down at white house, along the Humboldt River during the winter grazing. The fields are obviously not as full of fresh grass in the winter so the yearlings diet is supplemented with alfalfa cakes. When the alfalfa cakes were being distributed by truck or quad through the fields, whoever was driving was also blowing a whistle almost constantly. So, the cows came to associate the sound of the blowing whistle with coming towards the vehicle and getting alfalfa cakes.

Now that there is plenty of green grass, the yearlings aren't getting the supplements anymore, but the whistle association is very convenient. Especially when you are trying to get that many cows, spread out over a field of hundreds of acres to gather and go through a 14 foot opening in a fence into the next field.

Yesterday, we started about 7 am (it was Sunday) with 4 people on horseback and Jesse and little Maura (15 months), and myself in a rhino 4 wheeler. The picture has big Maura, her sister Ricarda, Brian, and Ricarda and Maura's dad Dick.

Jesse and I went first, riding out to the lower rock field where this group yearlings were. We opened the gate and started driving down the dirt rode that leads from this field to the next one ready for the yearlings, lower timothy. As we drove along, Jesse blew his whistle. The further we went, the more cows started following us (see photo). I would guess it took as about 30 minutes to drive through the field, blowing the whistle, and gathering the cows attention as we progressed. The team on horses basically pulled up the rear. Their job was to split up and go after the cows that weren't responding, or were too far away to hear the whistle. Iwas suprised at how well the whole operation worked. Cows aren't that smart either.....once you get the attention of one or two cows in the group and they start moving towards you, the rest of the group follows. It was a big group.

Once we got to the gate going into lower timothy, we opened it and drove through and the cows just kept on coming. It took almost 40 minutes for that many cows to move through the gate and for the guys on horseback to bring in the stragglers. As they went through the gate, it gave us a chance to look for any that may need doctoring. We found two that were limping a bit, one that needed attention. Dick roped it, and while it was roped on the ground, Jesse gave it some antibiotics to help it heal. Any yearling that gets doctored we mark their hide with a "paint pen"

so we know the next time we see them that they were already treated.

The yearlings will be in lower timothy for two days, just barely skimming the top of the grass, then will move again on Tuesday. Jesse told me the neighbors think they are pretty weird for using a whistle to herd the cows, but it works. This ranch is doing a handful of things out of the norm. Moving the cows so frequently is one of them. If the cows are only in a field for a short time, the grass grows back so much faster and the cows are getting rich fresh green tips all the time instead of eating down to the dirt (in which case is takes the grass a long time to come back). So many of our strategies with the cows are to keep them calm, keep them eating, and keep them moving. The goal is to have them gain

as much weight as possible on just grazing.

Brian is out fixing more fence today, I'm planning to work in the garden, and maybe make the trek to the mailbox. I'm hoping for sunny day. It always makes my mind more sane!