- DATE: October 10, 2014
- MANAGEMENT UNIT: Shepherd note: Oct 10, 2014
The cattle have been in the orchard since Monday. They began in the strip with the figs. They seemed to be much more interested in the figs then they were in the growing season. They ate a few leaves in the beginning, but then focused on the grass. I had them in that strip for 24 hours and in the last 3 hours or so they went after the fig leaves with much more focus leaving on average maybe 30% of the foliage on the trees. Next time we might need to get them in and out faster in the non growing season. It will be interesting to see how the figs respond to a vigorous pruning. In the next strip the cattle are doing fine. I have been working the dogs with them. I have realized it is much easier for me to train one dog at a time then two. Buddy id coming along very well when worked by himself. He actually listens better then Elle. The electric fences create barriers for the cattle to get pinned against which can make it hard to train the dogs properly as the dogs often do not want to get out around the outside and underneath the fence. The taller ungrazed portions are harder to get at for them. However buddy will go out in the ungrazed area much more willingly then Elle. Either way it is fun all around. There is a lot of material in the orchard and it is fun to use the dogs to get it broken up and on the ground.