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Monday, January 18, 2010

Interactions with sheep and cows and pigs



The orphan piglet has chosen two larger feeder pigs as her friends.  She follows them around as they forage; here, they're investigating the sheeps feeding trough.  The sheep are disgruntled; observing the pigs from a safe distance. 

She recognizes me and would like to come over, but feels comforted by the presence of the larger pigs, and so sticks pretty close.


  But when the larger pigs come over to me to say hello, she's right there for an ear scratch or a belly rub. 

And so is the cow.  This steer weighs around 500lbs and i'm having to keep him from affectionally nudging me.  He's not really aware he has horns. 

he's curious whats in my hands, and manages to use his big tongue to lick my hand, wrist, and camera.  Satisfied, he wanders off. 

Here the little pig is torn.  She'd like to come over and socialize, but the bigger pigs aren't, and she's clearly part of their herd now. 

And so she goes back to them and has made the transition completely now.  You can click on this photo for a larger version. 

3 comments:

  1. How come you don't dehorn your cows?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Inexeperience on my part. By the time that I figured out that I should have done it, the easy dehorning options had passed. Next time I will.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm sure you just raise steers for your own consumption and the farmers market but if you sell them through an auction, the cows with horns bring less.

    ReplyDelete