Steer 33 and cow 72 were found grazing around ///smug.recorders.stuff at 10:55 this morning. There was a large military presence in the area. They soon moved quickly to the trees near ///sits.else.query, seemingly searching for other cows.
Steers 219, 220, 222, 227, 228, 270 and 271, along with cows 214 and 234, were happily grazing near ///snipe.depth.basis at 11:15. They were all very friendly and came over to say hello. They then continued grazing, slowly moving southeast and reaching ///polar.firms.honey by 11:30. Steer 33 and cow 72 emerged from the thicket to join them, prompting lots of mooing. The cows were all looking well, although there was no change to steer 219's eye today.
The seven Sussex cattle were happily grazing in the pasture near ///wink.cork.monkey at 11:45. They were enjoying lots of heather. Several came over to greet me, with cow 211 standing and enjoying a back rub in the sun.
At 12:05, steers 21, 30, 35 and 217, along with cow 940, were grazing in the thicket near ///grabs.slug.violinist. Steers 20 and 230 were grazing by the path to the north. Upon seeing steer 20, I noticed he had a large, deep, and fresh gash at the rear of his underside that was still bleeding. He otherwise seemed okay and could walk normally. I promptly informed Chris at HIWWT and shared some photos.
After a while, the group of seven moved east along the path near James Bond Pond. They joined the eleven cows from the second group near ///mouse.tint.cans at 12:30. Initially, everything was calm, but a skirmish broke out between steer 20 and steers 21, 30 and 35. Steer 20 eventually walked off to the east, with the herd following behind. They reached ///blues.enjoys.ooze by 13:15.
Chris advised he would come out to treat steer 20 but needed to retrieve some equipment from the farm first. I chose to stay with the cows just in case any further issues arose. After grazing for a while, the cows moved down to the pasture near ///bucks.clubs.ignore and grazed north towards the covered reservoir. They then headed east, reaching ///cult.sticking.frail by 16:15, just as Chris, Emily, and Aria arrived.
Once help arrived, we set up a temporary corral to treat steer 20. However, he was too much on heightened alert to enter the corral, even with the lure of cattle nuts. He remained very cautious, particularly when the other older steers were nearby.
Throughout the afternoon, there were a few skirmishes between steers 20, 21 and 35. Unfortunately, youngster 230 got caught in the middle of one and ended up with a cut on his right rear side. Chris managed to spray the wound with antiseptic. While attempting to coax steer 20 into the corral, he and steer 35 clashed again, leaving steer 35 with a cut on his underside, near his front left leg.
Unfortunately, it seemed safest to let things de-escalate and have the Grazing Team deal with steer 20 tomorrow. Hopefully, the boys will settle down and keep out of each other's way, and have a quiet night. This is the first time I've ever seen any kind of trouble between them. (Sorry for today's blog being even longer than usual.)
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