Typhoon's Diary, January 30

 Typhoon has asked for the podium, again. LOL

 

  La Dorada Typhoon's Diary

I was meandering around the bull pen late one afternoon, eating some hay here and there -- some fresh grass too -- doing my best to just avoid Mica (he is so moooody), when I noticed another car driving by slowing down to stare at us. This car pulled into the lane, however. I acted like I didn't notice, so as not to give a show and encourage the onlookers. I heard the car door open and shut. And there she was! "Hi Ty, How's my boy?" I couldn't believe it! Meredith was here! During the week! And holy cow (no pun intended), she was all dressed up for city work. I am used to seeing her in her farm clothes, hair pulled back, with work boots and hat on. Wow! She came to see me! During the weekday!

She walked up and got some range cubes and, for some reason, all of the stars and planets aligned just right for me because Mica let me go to her and she got to pet me and rub my face! (For a little while anyway.) Then with this loud bawling noise, Mica expressed his envy and I moved aside to allow him to have some of my range cubes. I gave Meredith the "It's ok, humor him" look, so she gave him some.

Now, feeding range cubes to Mica is like giving a shark a steak! Mica is working on his manners, but he has a ways to go. Meredith has commented many times on what a gentleman I am. I never grab at her fingers. I always carefully and gently take the range cube. (I am pretty sure she is immune to bull spit, though, as she never seems to mind when it gets on her.)

After a couple of minutes humoring Mica, Meredith was ready to head back to work. What a great surprise for my week! I watched her car until I couldn't see the car anymore. All I can say is, I hope she washed her hands before she started typing on her computer again.

 He's such a ham. LOL

Give People The Benefit Of The Doubt

I admired Ann Brenoff's post:
"Long after people have forgotten your words, they remember how you made them feel. The ability to show restraint is a virtue. Don't get mad and don't get even. Just let it go. Life is cluttered with petty annoyances and small injustices. Not every one of them is worth addressing. Being angry at every slight, at every instance of life not behaving fairly -- it's all just too energy-zapping. Letting go instead of exploding is often the emotionally healthier route. The world is populated with a lot of jerks. It's also populated by pretty decent folks who on occasion have a jerk-like moment. The trick is in differentiating between the two. Give people the benefit of the doubt."

Seems like it's too easy for some people to jump (to conclusions, off a cliff of anger) whenever they don't get what they want. Most of the people around us aren't doing things to spite us or to cause problems for the people around them; they're just muddling along in their lives, doing the best they can, trying to stay on top of life. So if someone inadvertently mucks up your life, there's no need to go ballistic. Just point out how their actions have affected you. Your response can keep the situation from escalating and can promote positive interactions with others. What you sow often is what you reap.

Fudge And The Hay Bale

The weather is bouncing back and forth -- some days are a high of 20, and some are a high of 46. When it's nice, and the wind isn't blowing up our skirts, the cows wander the different "strips", looking for green grass. Pretty small chance, with the ground as dry as it has been. But it gives them some variety in their hay-and-range-cube diet. (And while they're grazing, the neighbor's new alpacas are staring at them. "Just what are those things over there with those horns???"  LOL)

Hot Fudge Sunday showed everyone how tough a bottle calf he is when we set the big bale yesterday. He huffed and puffed and challenged the front-loader tractor, to show the bale who was boss. It was hilarious. And once we put the bale down, he butted it vigorously, and threw hay as hard as he could. Considering his horns are only 2 inches long at this stage, he didn't do any damage to the bale. But he thinks he did. Ah, the innocence of youth.

This picture of Fudge is from 2 months ago.

The Beginning

I remember when I first purchased two cows – just to keep the grass down in the pasture. Within six months I had added four more cows and a bull.  I know my experience isn’t different from that of other Ankole-Watusi breeders. They buy a couple just for fun, and “BAM!” they want more!  Whenever anyone says they want to buy just two, I smile – because I know they’ll be back. Ankole-Watusi are addicting.

In 1983, the AWIR dream began. The dream of sharing these magnificent animals with other progressive thinkers throughout America.  I’m grateful to the charter AWIR members for their foresight.  Without them, I’d have missed some of the best times of my life. I have a duty - as do my fellow breeders - to pass that legacy on.  When I take the time to share these animals with 4-H clubs, FFA members, elementary school students (during their study of Africa [6th grade]), Lions Clubs, Ruritans, state fairs, etc., I’m helping to spread the word about these wonderful cattle.

THE ANKOLE LONGHORN CATTLE OF UGANDA

There is a 30 page paper (with photos) called THE NEED TO CONSERVE THE ANKOLE LONGHORN CATTLE OF UGANDA: A COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE. It presents the viewpoint of herders of the Nyabushozi, Kiruhura District, South Western Uganda. The meetings were held between February and April of 2009.

You can read the whole paper here, but Ankole-Watusi cattle enthusiasts might find this excerpt interesting.

Our Ankole long horn cattle have long white horns though there are those that are hornless.Their eyes, nose and ears are small (however smallness of the nose is relative).They are tall with long legs, have long navels and small humps. They are normally deep or dark brown (Bihogo) though some have different shades of brown (Siina & Gaaju) and others have different colour patterns (mayenje – small spots on the belly) with short hair. They also have a beautiful “moo” (i.e., they have a nice sound).

The Ankole longhorn cattle were the first cattle in the whole country and they resist any kind of suffering (i.e., they are hardy) and eat little grass.

The name “Ankole” is wrong, and the correct one is “Nkore” The writer G. N. Kirindisays that it was the colonialists who named our land “Ankole’ because they could not correctly pronounce the name “Nkore”.

Another name for Nkore is “Kaaro Karungi”. This name is a result of the war between Nkore and Bunyoro. When the Banyoro captured Nkore, they marveled at the beauty of the land and said “aka Kaaro Karungi” meaning “this is a beautiful village”.

The first breeders of the Ankore cattle, are our ancestors, the people of Nkore mentioned below; The Bachwezi (Founders of Nkore Kingdom and ancestors of the Banyankore), the Bahima and the Banyankore (present habitants of the area).

Factors That Are Considered When Selecting An Ankole Cow (Listed By Importance)
1. When selecting our cows, we consider beauty as number one. [Beauty includes size (big with long legs), colour (especially deep brown “Bihogo” and other beautiful colour patterns), and height, (white and beautifully shaped horns)]. If there is a beautiful bull, the offspring shall be beautiful
2. High and good quality milk production and character/temperament are very important.
3. We select our cattle in order to get offspring of the same colour or pattern since these would look beautiful, would always move together, love one another and other people would love them and they would be easily identified e.g. if lost or stolen.
4. Our prestige or status comes with our carefully selected herds for their strength and beauty.

Reproduction
Most of the Ankole heifers conceive for the first time between the ages of 2.5 to 4 years. However some well-suckled heifers conceive for the first time between the ages of 1 and 2 years.

An Ankole cow, if well fed or given proper care, can take between 2 weeks to 8 weeks to conceive after giving birth and if not given proper care, it can take four months. The cows with short calving intervals commonly have little milk and those with long calving intervals can produce 7 – 10 litres. The well-fed cows will give milk for up to a year but towards the end of this period the amount will decrease.

Economic Uses And Functions
1. Our cattle live long
2. They rarely fall ill
3. They are resistant to hunger and drought
4. We use them as a source of income (e.g. sales of live animals for money- hides to those who make shoes, bags, belts and drums, horns for buttons, trumpets, ornaments, handcrafts, and smoking pipes. Hooves are used to produce gum)
5. They fetch a higher price than the Nganda breed.
6. They produce good dung for energy-biogas
7. Our status is rated by the number and beauty of cattle one possesses
8. Their maintenance costs us little: e.g. they survive on only grass and water and Nkore has good grass, they survive under any condition and can be owned and managed by anyone (even the poor ones).

There are several very nice photos of local cattle in that paper. You can see that the conformation of the American animals holds true to the original form. ;-)