harsh reality...

96,104,74,0,B

Bad attitude...

Celebrated Buddy's third birthday today.  This will be his last at TFL - he's going to auction next week.  His banding, then cutting missed and he still has one testicle and a bad attitude.  He's been tearing up the barn and humping the water tank.  Shopping for a gentler companion for Ben.  91,98,71,0,B

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Buddy turned one year old today. Being new to ranching...I discovered that getting Bud for Ben as a Christmas present was a smart thing to do.  I got a clue when Ben was still here by himself and he would forlornly moo after Mr. Floppy would come to visit outside the pen then slowly saunter off.  They have become great companions even though "little brother Bud" has become the alpha male at feeding time. My boys are growing fast.  94,100,72,0,C,0

Breakthrough...

So as of today, Bud has been at TFL for 3 months.  He spent the first 6 weeks in pain with his banding that was going bad - then I had him emasculated for good.  Be bounced back pretty quickly from the procedure and is completely healed now but it has been slow going getting him to warm up to me.  Day by day...he would get closer to me at feeding time and has taken feed by hand for awhile now....but no TOUCHING!  In the last 5 weeks, I've been spending at least an hour a day out in the pen with the boys.  I would actually crawl around near Bud when he was lying down.  If I stayed still on the ground when he got up, he would come over and lick my boot, and would sniff my hat and face.  This game was often called off on account of Ben coming over to get in on the action.  Two weeks of just touching his nose when he was close enough finally paid off yesterday afternoon.  It started by me holding my hand near his horn which he would answer by trying to horn my hand.  While he would go back and forth at my hand, I was able to get just a little head scratching in.  After doing this a couple of times, he suddenly figured out although the horning was his defense...the scratching was a very good thing.  We played this game for about 15 minutes and he figured it out and let me scratch his head and neck.  A halter is still out of the question as far as he's concerned but we are making great progress.  49,62,39,0,W,0