It took a bit longer than we hoped, but we are now the proud owners of two pedigree Dexter cows and their calves. The Dexter is a native Irish breed, descended from the original little, black cows of the Celts. They are supposed to be hardy and easy to keep, well able to live out all year around. A dual purpose cow, their milk is as good as a Jersey's and they produce a lot of good beef for their size. So far we've been very impressed with the temperament of our two, who have settled right in and appear unfazed with the change from the mountain near Ballina they came from.
There was just one problem with putting cows in the bottom field and that was a length of the top wall. Calling it a wall is perhaps an over-statement, a low pile of stones being a better description. I've been relying on electric fencing for that stretch when the ponies were in the field, but now was the time to sort it out properly. We had plenty of stone from earlier wall changes and general clearance so Brian shifted all the stone down in the tractor and rebuilt the wall properly with a double skin and wire along the top. It was quite an undertaking, but we've had plenty of compliments on our new wall.
As well as fencing we have begun the process of putting in gates where required, two done two more to go, one of the finished ones being this little one which is part of the race "complex" and was previously an old pallet leant against the wall.