LAWNMOWER PROVIDES DINNER FOR BACKYARD CATTLE

My rural family has owned two Dexter cows for a few years now. Dexters are a petite breed designed to live on a small area of land, usually an acre or less, while producing the same meat and milk benefits of larger cows. Feeding them can get costly, however, especially when you have to purchase hay and deal with the hassle of moving heavy bales around.

Our yard badly needed mowing one afternoon this summer. Our not-so-trusty riding mower was in the shop (again), and we were forced to negotiate the push mower all over our large yard and dump the many bags of clippings in a large pile.

Imagine our surprise when the cows began mooing loudly at the smell of the fresh-cut lawn. Could it be possible that they were craving the stuff?

Out of curiosity, we started tossing the clippings over the fence into their feeding container, and they finished them off in a matter of minutes! Not only did they love the fresh grass, they preferred it over anything else we could give them. Our nightly routine now involves mowing a section of our lawn and giving Maggie and Elvis (the bovine duo) their tasty treat. It has become such a part of their lifestyle that, whenever one of our neighbors starts up a mower, the cows start to bellow loudly in anticipation of some dinner!

Not only has the push mower alternative given our family some much needed exercise, but nothing goes to waste, and our summer feed bill has dropped to zero. It’s the ultimate recycling success story!

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