thatannagirl
Herd lurker
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- Mar 11, 2025
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Hi, my name is Anna. I'm in Central Texas, and am really just getting started with livestock.
When I was in East Texas, I tried my hand at goats - and will not be revisiting that experience, lol! Also Chickens, which were fine and I intend to revisit that - though it didn't work out at the time for reasons I completely understand.
Right now I have roughly 30 acres and 3 (unregistered but full bred) red Dexter females - a cow and her calf, and a heifer around 2 years old. Their names are Mama, Baby, and Auntie... or just "The Ladies" or "Hay Ladies!" which is how I call to them when I want to let them I'm heading out to see them. I picked up the two adults last May, and haven't mowed my front or back yard since! No more traveler-sticker-burrs, because they love to eat the cow parsley my husband thought was "pretty white flowers to keep around because surely the wife likes it!" and that our dogs (with long hair, not fur - 2 Old English Sheepdogs and 1 ShihTzu) loved to roll in. I guess it smells roll-able to them.
When we got them, mama was pregnant, and they were both quite stand-off-ish. But judicious use of cattle cubes, some uncomfortable halter-training, and a lot of brushing later - they're almost bothersome wanting pets and attention anytime I'm in the yard. (Except the baby - I'm just getting started on forcing her to become accustomed to my proximity and learn to enjoy my presence.) They've gotten used to the dogs, and there's an acquaintance-type relationship where the dogs see them as possible playmates, and the cows want to mostly be left alone, but don't see the dogs as threats. If the mama (the only one with horns) goes to chase off a dog, and 'catches' it, she doesn't touch it, just huffs and walks away, like she's telling the dog: "You're annoying, and I'm not happy with your proximity, but not really willing to do anything impactful about it."
Keeping the dogs - mostly the OESes - in the same space as the cattle is intentional as a deterrent to coyotes, since the Dexter breed is small and there are only 3 of them. (2 large dogs is a threat to coyotes, 1 is a temptation.) We've had the dog breed for years. They're great as a breed that is defensive without being aggressive. Their presence even before the cattle was partly intentional to keep coyotes at a distance since we had/have young children.
I intend to work my way toward a low-maintenance quasi-homesteading setup, paired with some productivity required for the farm registration and agricultural tax impacts. I don't think that a fully-self-sufficient-homestead and all the work that comes with it is something that we will find satisfying. We want a measure of independence, the prospect of being able to transition to self-sufficiency if things go sideways, but mostly the satisfaction of working together on projects and enjoying the rewards of our labors.
Perhaps we will eventually get to a point where things bring in more money than they cost, but fully fencing the property and getting started with everything is a large expense of time and money, and having only 2 adults (each working 40+ hrs/week at a desk job) and elementary-aged kids means that projects are usually relegated to weekends, take longer, and frequently get put off.
For right now our fenced areas are: front yard (.75 acres), back yard (1 acre), side yard (.75 acres), and a small barn-yard space in front of a small barn. I frequently will put the mama cow on a long rope attached to her collar with a ground-stake and a water tough at the end of her reach to keep her in an area outside the fences. Baby and Auntie won't wander far from her, so it's as good as keeping them all fenced. And they can eat down other parts of the property.
As far as the herd goes, we will likely transition to registered Dexters to improve profitability (or just reduce losses). And we'll need more of them. But only at a good price, you know? With our existing little herd, our kids have declared these specific ones are off-limits for the market (sigh), but we may look at cross-breeding to improve the value of calves/offspring that WILL go to market - mostly. They aren't registered, so there's not really a point in ensuring they're bred back to a registered Dexter as far as I can tell. But when it's time to stock our freezer, why wouldn't I want a Dexter/Wagyu cross for the price of renting a Wagyu bull for a little bit? I may also include a Jersey or other dairy-specific breed in the mix just to help ensure milk availability in the event one of the cows isn't a great mama. Plus, Jersey/Dexter crosses are called Belfairs, and have their own niche.
Some of the more humorous lessons I've learned since getting the cattle are:
1) You can't keep the cardboard boxes you intend to burn in the burn pit anymore while waiting for a good day to burn them. The cows apparently love to eat the cardboard, choosing it over standing grass. And as awful as them eating cardboard is, they won't even eat it all - they'll leave their leftovers strewn across your yard and trampled into the grass.
2) When you start keeping your boxes (waiting to be burned) on your porch or deck, you need to immediately have a gate in place to prevent the cows from getting up on the deck or porch to get to the boxes. Cleaning up your deck or porch from muddy, trampled, shredded cardboard covered in 'fertilizer' is not something to be looked forward to. And not something you want any visitors or guests to witness. Not even delivery drivers.
The sound of hooves on the porch will quickly become a trigger when settling in for the night. As good as a doorbell. Get ready to run out to chase a cow off the porch while dressed in a towel.
3) When eating cardboard waiting to be disposed of, they may encounter the other packaging - styrofoam, plastic bags, etc. Congratulations, now they'll want to eat that too, and they'll seek it out. They'll associate it with the cardboard.
4) If the cows learn that 'cardboard candy' is a thing - they'll look for it anywhere they can get it, like cardboard (or plastic bags) that blows into your yard during wind storms, and their specialty: delivery boxes and boxes staged on the porch to be moved into the garage or delivered to donation, etc. The contents will be ignored, walked on, or scattered about the yard while the box is ripped apart.
5)Now that the cows know the porch is a place that 'candy' will be found, they WILL check out those galvanized trashcans on your porch that house the cattle cubes. Things have just gotten a lot more real. You will never be left alone if they see you on your porch (in proximity to the cattle-cube-containers). Make sure those lids are on all the way.
To summarize, learn from me, and start by ensuring any backyard cattle can't get on your porch from the very beginning. And immediately keep cardboard inaccessible. If you have dogs/dog doors, make sure your cow-blocking porch-gates don't limit your dogs. Luckily, calves will quickly be larger than your dogs, and then unable to get through your dog-sized gate-holes, so you'll only have to chase them off your porch a few times. Hopefully not at all if the grown cows never teach the calves that treats can be found there.
When I was in East Texas, I tried my hand at goats - and will not be revisiting that experience, lol! Also Chickens, which were fine and I intend to revisit that - though it didn't work out at the time for reasons I completely understand.
Right now I have roughly 30 acres and 3 (unregistered but full bred) red Dexter females - a cow and her calf, and a heifer around 2 years old. Their names are Mama, Baby, and Auntie... or just "The Ladies" or "Hay Ladies!" which is how I call to them when I want to let them I'm heading out to see them. I picked up the two adults last May, and haven't mowed my front or back yard since! No more traveler-sticker-burrs, because they love to eat the cow parsley my husband thought was "pretty white flowers to keep around because surely the wife likes it!" and that our dogs (with long hair, not fur - 2 Old English Sheepdogs and 1 ShihTzu) loved to roll in. I guess it smells roll-able to them.
When we got them, mama was pregnant, and they were both quite stand-off-ish. But judicious use of cattle cubes, some uncomfortable halter-training, and a lot of brushing later - they're almost bothersome wanting pets and attention anytime I'm in the yard. (Except the baby - I'm just getting started on forcing her to become accustomed to my proximity and learn to enjoy my presence.) They've gotten used to the dogs, and there's an acquaintance-type relationship where the dogs see them as possible playmates, and the cows want to mostly be left alone, but don't see the dogs as threats. If the mama (the only one with horns) goes to chase off a dog, and 'catches' it, she doesn't touch it, just huffs and walks away, like she's telling the dog: "You're annoying, and I'm not happy with your proximity, but not really willing to do anything impactful about it."
Keeping the dogs - mostly the OESes - in the same space as the cattle is intentional as a deterrent to coyotes, since the Dexter breed is small and there are only 3 of them. (2 large dogs is a threat to coyotes, 1 is a temptation.) We've had the dog breed for years. They're great as a breed that is defensive without being aggressive. Their presence even before the cattle was partly intentional to keep coyotes at a distance since we had/have young children.
I intend to work my way toward a low-maintenance quasi-homesteading setup, paired with some productivity required for the farm registration and agricultural tax impacts. I don't think that a fully-self-sufficient-homestead and all the work that comes with it is something that we will find satisfying. We want a measure of independence, the prospect of being able to transition to self-sufficiency if things go sideways, but mostly the satisfaction of working together on projects and enjoying the rewards of our labors.
Perhaps we will eventually get to a point where things bring in more money than they cost, but fully fencing the property and getting started with everything is a large expense of time and money, and having only 2 adults (each working 40+ hrs/week at a desk job) and elementary-aged kids means that projects are usually relegated to weekends, take longer, and frequently get put off.
For right now our fenced areas are: front yard (.75 acres), back yard (1 acre), side yard (.75 acres), and a small barn-yard space in front of a small barn. I frequently will put the mama cow on a long rope attached to her collar with a ground-stake and a water tough at the end of her reach to keep her in an area outside the fences. Baby and Auntie won't wander far from her, so it's as good as keeping them all fenced. And they can eat down other parts of the property.
As far as the herd goes, we will likely transition to registered Dexters to improve profitability (or just reduce losses). And we'll need more of them. But only at a good price, you know? With our existing little herd, our kids have declared these specific ones are off-limits for the market (sigh), but we may look at cross-breeding to improve the value of calves/offspring that WILL go to market - mostly. They aren't registered, so there's not really a point in ensuring they're bred back to a registered Dexter as far as I can tell. But when it's time to stock our freezer, why wouldn't I want a Dexter/Wagyu cross for the price of renting a Wagyu bull for a little bit? I may also include a Jersey or other dairy-specific breed in the mix just to help ensure milk availability in the event one of the cows isn't a great mama. Plus, Jersey/Dexter crosses are called Belfairs, and have their own niche.
Some of the more humorous lessons I've learned since getting the cattle are:
1) You can't keep the cardboard boxes you intend to burn in the burn pit anymore while waiting for a good day to burn them. The cows apparently love to eat the cardboard, choosing it over standing grass. And as awful as them eating cardboard is, they won't even eat it all - they'll leave their leftovers strewn across your yard and trampled into the grass.
2) When you start keeping your boxes (waiting to be burned) on your porch or deck, you need to immediately have a gate in place to prevent the cows from getting up on the deck or porch to get to the boxes. Cleaning up your deck or porch from muddy, trampled, shredded cardboard covered in 'fertilizer' is not something to be looked forward to. And not something you want any visitors or guests to witness. Not even delivery drivers.
The sound of hooves on the porch will quickly become a trigger when settling in for the night. As good as a doorbell. Get ready to run out to chase a cow off the porch while dressed in a towel.
3) When eating cardboard waiting to be disposed of, they may encounter the other packaging - styrofoam, plastic bags, etc. Congratulations, now they'll want to eat that too, and they'll seek it out. They'll associate it with the cardboard.
4) If the cows learn that 'cardboard candy' is a thing - they'll look for it anywhere they can get it, like cardboard (or plastic bags) that blows into your yard during wind storms, and their specialty: delivery boxes and boxes staged on the porch to be moved into the garage or delivered to donation, etc. The contents will be ignored, walked on, or scattered about the yard while the box is ripped apart.
5)Now that the cows know the porch is a place that 'candy' will be found, they WILL check out those galvanized trashcans on your porch that house the cattle cubes. Things have just gotten a lot more real. You will never be left alone if they see you on your porch (in proximity to the cattle-cube-containers). Make sure those lids are on all the way.
To summarize, learn from me, and start by ensuring any backyard cattle can't get on your porch from the very beginning. And immediately keep cardboard inaccessible. If you have dogs/dog doors, make sure your cow-blocking porch-gates don't limit your dogs. Luckily, calves will quickly be larger than your dogs, and then unable to get through your dog-sized gate-holes, so you'll only have to chase them off your porch a few times. Hopefully not at all if the grown cows never teach the calves that treats can be found there.
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