TI occasionally meet a man on my walks, whose worldview always fascinates me. Last winter, while I was lamenting the rain as usual, he was thinking about how best to embrace it. He even had a business repairing punctured boots. If it was a success, I would be first in line. His adaptive instinct comes to mind as I wait for the arrival of Dewi, the farm's vet. In front of me are some brown cows, including a 16-month-old black Aberdeen Angus bull named Wesley.
In the “old days” we used to borrow bulls from a neighbour in North Devon in exchange for a bottle of whisky, but the introduction of pre-movement testing to combat tuberculosis caused problems and we had to start raising our own. As a small farm with no buildings this presents a logistical challenge. We need to manage the herd in two groups to keep the bulls separate from the heifers which are of the wrong age. This is easy in the summer when we can rent extra grazing land, but in an increasingly wet winter we risk doing disproportionate damage to two fields instead of one. So when we needed a new bull in May we bought one that we knew we would use but not keep. We chose the Angus breed because it is popular and should be easy to sell. But we need to make sure it is “proven” first.
“Have you seen him at work?” Dewi asked, gathering up his overalls, arm-length exam gloves, and a portable scanner. I haven't. Legend has it that you shouldn't see a good bull at work. Research backs this up, suggesting that natural conception mostly occurs between 10pm and 2am. But I saw Wesley “mate” and noticed traces of semen on his private parts early the next morning. I then calculated 21 days when they should have returned in heat, but when they didn't, I waited another 21 days just to be sure. By my calculations, he'd caught all the bulls, and the gestation period is between 48 and 62 days.
As Dewi checks each one, “on his calves,” the show's star lies down in boredom. It's a shame to sell Wesley, but maybe he'll treat himself to a new pair of boots.
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