Props to the teenage boys.

Whenever we do herd health here there are inevitably any number of jokes made at the expense of our weanling/yearling males. They are after all going through some ongoing process of simultaneously missing their mothers while also discovering their independence (and their sexuality) with the added edge that only an influx of testosterone can offer. They vacillate quickly between feeling sorry for themselves and then acting as if they are the reincarnations of the world’s greatest Herdsires. Their yearling female counterparts by comparison, are usually fairly laid back. Why does that all feel like a bad Jr. High flashback? Hmm.

Regardless, I have to say that after the last 48 hours though I have a profound new respect for our small group of yearling males. Shockwave, Wayfarer, Vertigo, Sambach, Prophet, and Troy chose to spend perhaps 90% of the daylight hours outside over the last few days through some of the worst weather we’ve seen in months. Whether it was sleeting on Sunday morning or down-pouring all day yesterday, they stayed outside and “grazed” (grazed on what is certainly up for debate) throughout almost the entire day. Years ago we brought a group of females into the foundation herd that had grown up out west and refused to come into the barn for weeks on end when they first arrived. They had simply been conditioned to the idea of being out in the open, regardless of the weather conditions. That made sense though, while this on the other hand, is a little baffling. Apparently the Alpha of this current yearling feed group has decided that they are going to be kicking it old school. Mama’s boys need not apply. I guess that means we shall have to mock them all a little less in the future!