Saturday 31st October - All 3 seen

At 14:15 this afternoon, the boys were grazing among the gorse bushes east of the corral, near ///reap.start.goofy. Youngster 282 spotted me approaching and wandered over to greet me, welcoming me with a loud moo before leaning in for the first of many neck scratches. Youngsters 278 and 283 soon came over to say hello, happily accepting plenty of strokes and rubs. Afterwards, the boys gathered around me in the bracken, where they relaxed and chewed their cud. One by one, they stepped forward to enjoy lengthy neck and back scratches.

By 15:10, the boys had drifted towards the corral, stopping to enjoy leaves from the silver birch trees along the way. Again, they gathered around me, content to chew their cud as I fussed over them. They were incredibly affectionate, each offering the sweetest head rubs after enjoying long neck and shoulder rubs. One of them remained with me at all times, while the other two alternated between grooming themselves or each other and having playful little fights nearby. After a while, all three crossed the path and moved into the woodland to the west, where they continued to rest. Despite the sunny afternoon, they seemed to prefer the shade, presumably to escape some of the flies.

By 16:00, they had begun exploring the bracken just north of the first set of tank pits. They seemed particularly interested in the lush grass and other vegetation growing beneath the bracken, carefully picking their way through the undergrowth in search of the tastiest mouthfuls. They still wandered over to spend some time with me, positioning themselves for back scratches as they continued their browsing. Around fifteen minutes later, they ventured out into the heather near ///youths.glove.slows to continue grazing. After a final round of strokes and rubs, I said my goodbyes at 16:30, leaving them to graze peacefully.

Before leaving, I went to check the trough, which was once again covered in pine needles and leaves from the tree above. I gave it a thorough clean and made sure it was full of fresh water for the boys to drink if they stopped by later. There were still plenty of puddles around the site where they could find additional drinking water.

The cattle were all good today.

I am away next weekend. So will be unable to check on the cattle on Fri 6 or Sun 8 Nov.

Friday 30 November 26. (10:00 - 10:15) All 3 Seen in H5/6. All well.

 They were just 3-10

yards north of the sandy track, about half way between the ammo dump and the Hawley Hard cattle grid.  They were on the move,  heading ESE parallel with the sandy track.  

Thursday 29th October - All good

All the boys found easily near the middle entrance (J7). The all looked good.

I thought Jura looked a little skinny though, compared to the other two. But as there was a staff check last Tuesday, I'm sure you would have noticed if that was something to be concerned about.

 

 

Wednesday 28th - Morning

 Cows were in thick scrub over here

As far as I could see there were no issues with them.

Instead of walking back across the site I went to climb over the fence.  When I got there 2 strands of the fence had been cut.  I made a temporary repair and phoned it in.  Sean was going to sort out a permanent repair.

Tuesday 27th - Staff Check

 Did the first part of the cows' TB test today. All looked well - Ned attempted to shave off part of the horn of 283, but its still very close to his head so may have to get someone in to look at it

Monday 26 October 26. (08:50 - 09:15) All Three Seen in J6 & J7. All Well.

 Jeans, was under the tree, just a few yards west of the cattle grid opposiute to the entrance to Hawley Hard.

Jet was about 50 yards north of Jet, just off the sandy track in the grassy entrance that heads NE.

  Jura was about 40 yards north of Jet.

All were busy grazing and were not interested in interacting with me.  However, when I returned to collect my bike, (which I'd left not far from the cattle grid) Jeans was still in that area.  When I approached he was not interested in any head scratches and made a low moo,  which I assumed was to get a location on the other two, (one of whom replied).  I walked over to my bike and he was just stood looking at me.  So, I returned to him and he endured/enjoyed a long neck scratch on the lhs of his neck.  

As I rode off and over the cattle grid, Jeans had resumed grazing and I saw that Jet was now in the same area, only a few yards from Jeans.