A Long Night

It's never enjoyable when Peaches goes into heat. She turns into a little monster, and I never know what she's going to do. I've been watching her closely these past few days; knowing that she's due for her next heat cycle sometime between the 5th and the 9th. Once I see signs, then I call the AI tech and schedule a day to get that job done. 

Turns out that Peaches decided to cycle a little early this time around. I heard her in heat, before I saw her.

For the record, this heifer has the world's worst moo. I think I've said that on here before somewhere, but it bears repeating. It's awful. Her bellowing voice has all the pleasantness of listening to someone grind their teeth in their sleep, but it's ten times louder, and it doesn't stop. If the makers of the movie 'Jurassic Park' needed a new sound for the T-Rex, Peaches' moo would be the perfect choice. 

 So yesterday afternoon, around 4pm, just like clockwork, Peaches hormones began kicking in, and on came the bellowing. One screeching, scratching, hideous bawl after the other. She inhales, and then exhales in a ragged moo that echoes through our little valley and the sound makes your skin crawl. Inhale, moo. Inhale, moo. Last time she did this, she bellowed until 11:30pm; so I started counting the hours until nightfall, when she would hopefully go to sleep. Ha. I must have jinxed it.

6pm came, and she was still bellowing with a hearty will; never stopping. Right when she had taken in a deep breath, she let it out with noise. It. Did. Not. Stop. No break, no rest, just one annoying moo after the other. 10pm came... She was still going. 11:30pm came... Still mooing. 12:45pm came... And I couldn't take it any longer. I rolled out of bed, grabbed my coat and headed out to the barn in my pajamas to see if I couldn't make that darn heifer be QUIET!!! Seeing as dark threats had no effect on her, I topped off her water bucket and threw her some more hay. Ahhh, silence. I crawled back into bed and went to sleep.

Twenty minutes later I was awoken by a loud noise. The heifer was bellowing again. Noooooooooo!! 

There was nothing to do except listen to her, hour, after hour, after hour. 3am came... Still mooing. 5am came... Still making noise. 6:20am came... And, silence?? After fourteen hours of bellowing, Peaches finally went quiet. I flicked my alarm off and decided right there and then that I was going to sleep in today. I had just spent the entire night awake, listening to a bovine who had seemingly gone mad; I wanted to sleep now and enjoy the quiet. That was the plan anyway. 7:30am rolled around and what do I hear? Yep, you guessed it. Apparently cows don't need as much sleep as humans do. She was at it again. I gave up, got dressed and started my day. 

I wasn't exactly cheery when I got up this morning, and what I found in the barn had virtually no effect on lifting the mood. Sometime in the night, Peaches went on a total rampage. The welded wire panel that keeps her separate from the goats was knocked down and bent. I didn't even know you COULD bend that stuff...! The goats were all standing out in the rain, and were dripping wet; Peaches had shoved them outside while she bellowed in the dry barn. Slats on the hay manger were broken, the pallet fence was close to coming apart in some areas, water buckets were overturned, Trigun was limping. And Peaches stood in the middle of it all, bellowing her head off. Breakfast was postponed while I fixed everything. Peaches is now back where she belongs, The AI tech is coming out in a couple of hours, Trigun will be fine in a day or two... 

I love this farming life. I really do. I just don't love the heifer when she's in heat. -_-