Out West Wanderings II
We are giving ourselves one more day before we go on a short ride on our horses. Pearl is recovering rapidly and is back to eating normally. This morning we were surprised by animal visitors.
Our campsite is on the Arizona State Trust lands. This area is large with few homes on it. These people lease the land from the government. Shelley Donnelly leases over 54,000 of acres and runs long horn cattle on it. There are no fences, only cattle guards to keep the animals from going out into the city limits.
When researching, I found that Donnelly's have a total of 40 animal units for the leased acreage. I guess this must be per acre, because we saw at least 10 longhorn this morning. The definition of an animal unit is defined as a mature (1,000-pound) cow or the equivalent, based on an average consumption rate of 26 pounds of forage dry matter per day.
It is hard to believe that a cow could find 26 pounds of anything edible here! But this year there has been more rain than normal over the winter and the residents say it is the greenest they have seen the desert in 10 years.
The Donnelly's round up their cattle twice a year for shots etc. I would like to be around for that.
So this morning was the first time we had long horn in our camp.
millspap
64 chapters
16 Apr 2020
Day #37
February 21, 2020
|
Superstition Mountains
We are giving ourselves one more day before we go on a short ride on our horses. Pearl is recovering rapidly and is back to eating normally. This morning we were surprised by animal visitors.
Our campsite is on the Arizona State Trust lands. This area is large with few homes on it. These people lease the land from the government. Shelley Donnelly leases over 54,000 of acres and runs long horn cattle on it. There are no fences, only cattle guards to keep the animals from going out into the city limits.
When researching, I found that Donnelly's have a total of 40 animal units for the leased acreage. I guess this must be per acre, because we saw at least 10 longhorn this morning. The definition of an animal unit is defined as a mature (1,000-pound) cow or the equivalent, based on an average consumption rate of 26 pounds of forage dry matter per day.
It is hard to believe that a cow could find 26 pounds of anything edible here! But this year there has been more rain than normal over the winter and the residents say it is the greenest they have seen the desert in 10 years.
The Donnelly's round up their cattle twice a year for shots etc. I would like to be around for that.
So this morning was the first time we had long horn in our camp.
Blaze and Pearl we keeping an eye on them, but did not panic. The cattle were eating the left over hay from the horses nets that we had thrown out in the desert. I am sure they will be back for more another day.
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Out West Wanderings: Year 2
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