We met Diana and Richard about a week ago on another campground. They run a cattle property with about 250 cattle just north of Townsville, and very kindly invited us to their property. We gladly setup camp on the bank of the Black River.
The Muster
Due to the worst drought in more than 30 years they are currently downsizing their cattle herd. They also have to separate the older calfs from their mothers to give the mother cows a chance to make it trough winter until the start of the next wet season in hopefully November this year.
Luckily for us Diana and Richard did their mustering while we were camping here. Never seen a muster before, we were not sure what to expect: It's about sorting the cattle out for sale to the meat works, separating the older calfs from their mother and vaccinate the herd.
First the cattle had to be fetched from the paddock were they were grazing. They prefer use horses and cattle dogs to drive the cattle home. It was amazing to see the three dogs and the four horses work together to lead the heard home. We got chauffeured by Alica in a little cart. (No sore bums for the tourists ;-). Interestingly they also train the cattle to get used to the dogs, so the cattle pretty much know as long as they follow the leading dog, they have nothing to fear.
Once the cattle was in their enclosure, they started to split the heard into three groups:
- cattle over 400 kg go to the meat works
- mother cows and smaller cattle got sprayed against ticks and flees and they also got 2 vaccination shots
- calfs to be branded and castrated.
Sarah with the cattle dog, cow and calf, vaccinating, branding, Diana and Alice
The cattle going to the meat works all received an ear-tag, so it can be tracked back to the farm where it grew up.
The biggest and hardest work was the smaller calfs. All had to be branded, ear marked and de-horned. Additionally, the little bulls had to be castrated as well. Obviously they won't hold still for this procedure, so they had to be clamped in a vice like device and then pushed on the side.
It was a very exiting experience for us, first seeing the horses and dogs working, then being up close to the cattle. And they can be quite big and aggressive when they are threatened. The mother of the little calf pictured above was very protective and she didn't want to go through one of the gates. Instead she charged towards Alice and Alica. Gee those girls can run fast and climb those fences...
Thanks Diana and Richard for an awesome day and having us on your property.