Our bull has mooooved on to new pastures… 🙂

Cleatus started to get bored with our dairy girls & began getting a little rough with them. We are assuming that’s because he got everybody bred within the first couple weeks of being with them, since we haven’t noticed any more heats. Walking the herd + him down to the barn every morning was not-so-fun for my 3 boys, so Cleatus came out a few days shy of our eight week goal. OUR PLAN was to put him with the three yearling bulls he had hung out with last winter… HOWEVER, when the boys were re-united, it wasn’t such a cozy reception. 😦

One of the yearlings, Romeo, suffers from “Napoleon Syndrome”, lol… He’s physically the smallest, but THINKS he’s the biggest. Um. Yeah. Not a good mentality to test, especially with Cleatus. Soooo, after witnessing some pretty scary antics & fence damage occuring right before our eyes, the determination was made that these 4 couldn’t remain together. 😦

So away went the 3 yearlings to a back field, far out of sight from Cleatus. Mike proceeded to fortify the section of fence Cleatus was contained in with extra electric, and we prayed for direction. Fortunately, the bull wasn’t having issues with “people”. But still, with the type of grazing we do here, it sure didn’t seem like we were going to have a place for Cleatus if he needed long-term, heavy-duty confinement. OUR NEXT PLAN was to eat him – or rather, fill some of our customers’ orders. 🙂

HOWEVER, we failed to take into consideration that this being “fair season”, no butcher shop near or far had ANY openings until October! So up on Craig’s List, Cleatus went… 🙂

And now we know why the Lord said “no” to eating him. Because Cleatus was meant for a 13-year-old young lady who had been searching for a registered shorthorn bull – WITH roan coloring…to breed to her registered shorthorn heifer, so she can grow her very own registered shorthorn herd!! Wow. Who’d a thunk? 🙂

She and her dad came out to see Cleatus last Monday morning, and we relayed the details of the recent bull antics. They already have beef cattle, so they weren’t really surprised. Her dad just wanted to make sure Cleatus wouldn’t charge him, so he went right in with Cleatus, and met him up close… Cleatus behaved well, and passed the test. 🙂

Mike (a.k.a. “McGuyver”, lol) gathered gates from around the farm & he + the boys created a loading area right out in the field. Then Mike wired up a couple fenceposts & created a “cattle prod”, lol. It was pretty slick, and once they started, Cleatus was loaded on the trailer in less than 30 seconds! 🙂

Lord, we thank You for Cleatus and all the calves he has fathered on our farm. And though he disrespected some of our animals, we are grateful none of them were seriously hurt. Thank You, also, for the “good samaritan” who stopped to help us when he saw we needed it. May his act of kindness & willingness to help inspire all of us to do the same if we ever get the opportunity for someone else.

Kinda cool that by “process of elimination”, You revealed to us Your plan for our bull. May we continue to be ever mindful of “Plan B’s”, as we submit to Your will & not be bitter or stubborn when our ideas hit roadblocks. We pray that Cleatus’s new surroundings will keep him content and that his temperament remain on an even keel. May he be an asset there, and enable his new owner to grow her herd. Amen.