I say now because they arrived all squashed up on the back of my brothers tandem trailer after a 5 hour drive from Maropiu to Hamilton. Yes, they arrived Clampett styles :-) towed behind Dad's Prado in the dark at 9 pm. I could only imagine how traumatic that experience would have been for them, especially after my husband told me they had just come off their mothers. Poor babies. My husband placed them in the stock yards over night with some hay to try and settle them during the night, with the plan to move them into the paddock in the morning.
I awoke the next morning to the sound of "the sheilas" mooing and I remember thinking to myself how therapeutic it was, although looking back now I doubt that was the emotion they were trying to achieve.
I wasn't there to experience them being moved as Ness and I went off to take care of another job I do in the winter time - netball. Whilst we were finishing up for the morning, Ness received a text from her husband Bung who I can only imagine was excited by the fresh air and experience of being on some land. The text read "Better buy a nice bottle of wine on the way home". Giggling to herself Ness told me "something must have happened" and read the text out to me. I wandered off engrossed in finishing my netball jobs for the day when Ness popped up and said "oh no ... Bosco (their Boxer puppy which is the size of a small cow), was so excited he chased "the sheilas" and made two of them bolt through the electric fence. The boys (our husbands) had to round them up from the neighbours property and put them back into the paddock". I commented that my husband must've been livid.
To be honest, I didn't quite register the significance of what had happened until we got home and the boys explained it to us. They had to repair the neighbours fence from the damage it had caused. Fair to say my husband was not very happy, but he got over it pretty quickly and poor old Bosco was securely tied up on the verandah wondering what was happening, especially since our two dogs - PAL and JOSEPH were casually roaming the land. Little did Bosco know, their introduction to cows was a little more traumatic, each happening on separate occasions many years ago. Its kind of like an initiation to farming life when our dogs wonder the land and think "oooo whats that big friendly looking beast? I'll wander over there and show my authority" ... only to be kicked profusely by a mother protecting their babies. Fair to say our dogs do not enter the paddocks when we visit the Maropiu farm anymore and stay well away from any cow .. NO EXCEPTIONS!!
I wandered over to the paddock fence to see if the sheilas were okay and watched them roaming on the perimeter of the paddock. Day two, and still traumatised by their move to the Ponderosa. Poor things.
Later that day we joked about the events of the morning and I have a vivid image of the boys wondering excitedly over to the stock yards, forgetting that Bosco was even more excited trying to enjoy the fresh air and 9 acres to run around in. (I think he takes after his owner Bung) 5 cows (animals Bosco had never experienced) was something new to play with ... in fact he was that excited, the electric fence couldn't hold him back either - but like I said, he is the size of a small cow :-) I'm not sure which animal I felt more sorry for - The Sheila's or Bosco?
It took 4 days for the sheilas to settle in and feel safe to wander close to the fence for us to talk to them. The girls have named them after the One Direction group ... which to be honest is fitting considering the cows look more masculine than the boys in the singing group. Niall, Zayn, Liam, Harry and Louis
They seem extremely fascinated with "the gals" or chooks and most mornings I awake to see them all grazing in the paddock together. Aaaaah, this is the life alright.
We are so pleased with The Sheila's that I've asked my dad to bring two more from the farm in Maropiu to join them this weekend. That should be interesting to see how they integrate with The Sheilas ... plus Bosco is due to come back down this weekend too so we'll have to be extra careful so that we don't have the same episode we had a few weeks back ... although that would be funny :-)
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| The Sheilas - Believe it or not, they have just come off their mothers |
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| Bosco ... in his fierce hunting environment of the North Shore in Auckland |
Have a great evening people.
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