He looks like a bull and he acts like a bull but the proof of a pudding is in the eating. With a new bull, the proof of a good bull is with the new calves, and for that we must wait. So far, our new bull is doing his job. The cows hang around together with the bull and wander around the pastures together. His job, in addition to siring the new calves, is to protect the cows so no bull will jump the fence.
The time had come for us to retire our old bull. Big Tex, named by the girls, was an excellent bull. He looked great and he produced wonderful calves, which we sold at auction. But he was feisty and Steve, who looks after the cattle, did not really like Big Tex. And after several years of new calves, inbreeding would become a problem, so Big Tex went to the auction. We sold three of our cows to Robbie. Now we have five cows, one older cow and the rest less than two years old.
Our new bull is not as pretty as the old one because he is several shades of dark. And he is quite short. He is also only one year old so he will grow. He is active and energetic which is good. His horns are already three feet wide so we give him a wide birth. We are happy with our new bull, selected by Steve at an auction. We have been told that bulls do not always take their task seriously and get down to the business of producing calves. Our friend Alan, our farmer friend in Pennsylvania, said that if you buy a bull and he refuses to do his job, there is not a thing in the world you can do about it except turn him into ground beef and buy another bull. Fortunately, our bulls have always performed. We hope our new bull turns out to be a good bull. His name will come when the girls arrive to name him. In the meantime, we are happy to have a bull at the ranch.
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