I’m Trying not to Laugh

A few posts ago I described my Calf Moment, when I fed them, then let them out to play, and couldn’t get them back in the barn without difficulty, especially Little #2, who slipped through the gate into the east pasture.

Well, let me just say that Melissa had her own Calf Moment, and it was way more chaotic than mine. (Sadly, smugness can afflict the best of us.)

She fed the calves at 2 pm, then decided to let them have a little walkabout inside the barn. The barn door was open, with a low board across it as a barrier. Little #2 has seen too many John Deere TV commercials, because he took one look at that board and thought, “Runs like a Deer,” and flew over the board. Then the other two insisted on being let out as well, so Melissa gave in. They ran around like crazy animals for a few minutes, then she tried to get them back inside.


Uh-huh. No way. And to show he was serious, Little #2 shot through the five-wire electric fence into the north pasture, where the sheep and Tucker the Protective Llama were grazing. As Melissa ran for the nearest gate into the north pasture, Tucker realized a potential threat had entered his world.  He thundered towards the calf. 

Picture this: A little, deer-like 30-pound calf being chased by the 400-pound llama, who’s being chased by Melissa as she yells, “Don’t kill the baby!” After Melissa had gotten enough exercise, Tucker stopped and the calf stopped. Then the calf hopped the fence into the east pasture. Melissa slogged back to the original pen and managed to get one of the remaining two calves into the barn. Then she returned to the east and cornered Little #2 against the fence and an old composter made of pallets. She snagged his leg, and wrestled him into the original pen. After a bit more running around, she got all three calves back into the barn.


We will, of course, soon be letting the calves roam outside most of the day. 

Little #2, however, might be on a leash.