Thursday, August 24, 2006

Cow Bio - Maynard

It was a mistake to remove Mackenzie from the herd. All bovines gladly follow other cud chewers who are going anywhere. But when none move, all bovines will ever more gladly stand in a pack and moo merrily at you to tell you that they are hungry or thirsty or sweaty or bored with not mooing. The problem is encouraging that original mover to move. Mackenzie was the only cow in the herd that had processed the fact that when I was in the field with her, she must move from point A which was newly nude of grass to point B which was lush with the stuff. Everyone else had only picked up on the fact that my presence meant fresh grass, the moving to getting it part had them all totally waffled.

So for the last 7 weeks I've had a hell of a time training the new leader to fill Mac's shoes. The new mover and friend of me is Maynard.
There isn't anything to tell about Maynard. She's a she. She has a white spot on her forehead. She leads the herd.
I think Maynard is an abysmal name. Local Girl thinks it divine. I associate the name with a savory character from F'town, Maynard Knuckles. She associates the with a certain lead singer from Ravenna, Maynard James Keenan. So this cow was elected to carry the name to determine which of us has drawn the correct conclusion.

5 Comments:

Blogger Lord of the Barnyard said...

ten minutes past posting, i find that the great maynard ferguson has passed.

http://www.maynardferguson.com/

8:01 PM  
Blogger Brad K. said...

I got a 45" white fiberglass rod, maybe 3/8" to 1/2" thick, tapered, with black soft plastic or rubber caps on the ends. This 'wand' was for horse training, according to Linda Tellington-Jones' TTEAM books.

I find this works really well with cows. Wave it to the left, the cows see a bigger booger on the left, they go right. Wave it to the right, they go left. stand still with hands on top, they slow/settled down; a waiting posture. Walk close behind them, they move off - swing the wand up about head height, down to tap the ground just to my left, up again and down to tap the ground just to my right. Repeat. The cows hear the taps on the ground through incredible amounts of noise, and move away. This is a more intense way of following/driving. The wand waving to both sides means move forward.

I will wave the wand in the cow's face to turn her, but not hit her -- I have seen them double back on a dime, but not because they were hit, tapped, zapped, kicked .. I have seen some yahoos yell instructions at the cows, and curses. It is all 'moo' to them.

The wand, whether waving or still, speaks to the cows. Be conscious that they always see the wand, and any random movement becomes noise and lessens the communication value. Deliberately used, the wand can be a great tool for working cows in the open or in the pen.

I got my wand at the feed store. My neighbor got his from the soil bank banquet goody bag.

10:57 PM  
Blogger Lisa said...

Lotb:
One of my best friends from college is Maynard. She is really Krista, but somehow freshman year she was Maynard and now, years and years later, it's stuck. Local Girl is right. Maynard is an awsome name.

11:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

but i don't want to drive them, that's a waste of my time. i want them to follow me. so, unless this rod comes with a concentrated goodness of delicious hay flavour...

LotB

7:58 AM  
Blogger Joe said...

I love this friggin place, Mr. Lord of the Barnyard.

Reminds me of growing up in Wisconsin. (I am in Montana now.)

Keep on keepin' on.

10:30 AM  

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