Dairyman

July 23, 2012

Maconnex, France, 2012

A few things completed yesterday, came full circle.

We saw that the donkeys next door had two new foals, a dark one and a light one, a prefect matched set for their mothers.

We saw the cows across the rue come in for the night, and the bull make a display (pictured above). The herd had two calves also, a very new one and one a couple of months old. We've seen the cows go out a few times, but had never seen them come in. It was a good show, the fermier encourages his dog to go (a lot of 'Allez! Allez!'-ing) and he rounds them up to come in. Of course, they mostly know the drill and already the leader is coming in when she sees him. The fermier uses his staff a little, mostly display, to keep the cows in order and on the move.

The horses also had a foal. Normally there are three, but yesterday only one horse and one baby.

We had been wondering where all the animals had gone lately. They have been reshuffled for calving time.

Cows

February 26, 2012

Cows going to pasture

France (2011)

I'm still exploring the duotone color space, this time its green and blue. I hope that doesn't seem too harsh.

Across the street from us is a small dairy farm. Around 7 o'clock every night they put the cows out to pasture for the night. There is definitely a lead cow, a rather bossy lady, thats her in the lower left corner. I have no idea how this dominance order is chosen, other than, well, dominance. Anyway, it's kind of a spectacle. The cows are pretty happy to be let out of the barn, and so they cross the street into the field, and either immediately drink from the trough, or relieve themselves. Then, off they go, following the leader out into the near night, looking for a nice tasty patch of grass to munch on, and nap on, good weather or bad.