Against the main gate heading to the pasture, I have a ‘step’ that I sit on when I’m watching my cows or updating records on my phone. With fall starting, and this being the second year of severe drought, we weaned several months earlier than normal which means I am spending more time ‘socializing’ with my cows and calves.
Why?
Because weaned calves can be skittish and need to learn to trust me so I can handle them without one going through the fence. And for the cows, re-establishing our relationship so that they trust me, not only for any doctoring that may go on during the winter, but also so in the spring they’ll let me near their newborn calves.
I am a firm believer in gentle handling. Such handling does take time. Time taken during this season pays off when I have to load an animal in the trailer or treat an injured or sick animal later or tag and band a newborn calf. AND, it allows me to have cheap corral panels for my corrals. Since, the animals don’t feel threatened, they won’t try jumping or going through the fence. Yes, it happens.
Incidents of panicking cattle reduce tremendously when we both breed for quiet dispositions and train the animals to trust us.
In fact, I believe that this method of handling can be used in almost any situation. This spring, a cow giving birth both lost her calf and became temporarily paralyzed. I didn’t need to bring her into the corrals (wouldn’t have been physically capable of doing it), but treated her in the pasture, including massaging her back and hindquarters. She trusted me enough to let me take care of her. By the way, she recovered and within a few weeks traveled with the herd.
Recently, I listened to someone tell a story of how these ‘cowboys’ had to round up these wild cows that had gotten out. While no doubt a dangerous and stressful situation, I confess to shaking my head over how the 'cowboys' handled the cattle. True, I was a bit arrogant in thinking I would have handled things differently. In truth, on occasion, more aggressive handling gets the job done faster than slow and gentle. However, gentle handling, down with patience and kindness, can have better and safer result than ‘cowboying’ the animals into submission.
And please, no offense meant against cowboys. They have been my heroes all my life. But I use the term based on the picture the word conjures up, not on what is truth. I’ve learned a lot from true cattlemen who would call themselves cowboys but in no way behave as the media portrays them. (this of course is a rabbit trail).
I just finished my first ‘in corral bucket training’ with my calves. Basically, in the enclosed space of the corrals, I try to get the calves to eat out of the bucket at or near my feet. Some are always braver than others. It is a place to start, with the end goal being that a few (if not all) will allow me to scratch their back. The location of the corrals is important, because if I have to doctor or vaccinate or handle the herd, this is where it is done. Best the animals learn to trust me and work quietly in this area.
Watching these young animals learn to trust me reminded me of Romans 2:4:
“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
It got me to thinking about God's patience with me. I can be skittish like the calves, but when I go looking for the good things (like a calf will stretch out his neck and then his tongue to get a cube), I find Him. Yes, He’s in the power of a storm or in the ferocious fast flowing river, but He also meets me in the quiet moments, the cleft of the rock, or the stillness of the morning. There, I can reach out, even tentatively, and trust Him to give me what I need.
As a calf begins to learn that my hand holds a cube, and I’m not going to hurt him, he’ll become bolder. Eventually, he may become aggressive, butting me to get what he wants. This unacceptable behavior leads to the calf receiving a knock across the nose, i.e. a corrective action taken against him.
You know, I think sometimes God does the same thing. Sometimes, we get a little too selfish, demanding from God what we want and treating Him like He’s our servant rather than the Holy and Sovereign God He is.
God is an amazing God, kind and patient, and desiring to treat us with all kindness and gentleness. Nonetheless, He is to be revered and respected.
I am thankful for the example God gives me in my cattle. I learn so much from them.
“But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air and they shall tell thee:” Job 12:7
