Thyme's Steer Project

[wolfdog01]

July 13, 2014

Everyone! I just got a steer! Today! I am so happy 'cause last year the school had a chapter steer which is something everyone takes care of but two people are showing it 'cause they do most of the work. I never had one but I loved helping out and of course my dying love of animals took over so I begged my parents to get one for the school project for a fair and we got it! I'm really excited to where my mind is racing on what to type! Well, first off let me tell you what a steer is for those who don't know. A steer is a castrated bull, or a neutered bull in easier terms. People are allowed to show a number of things from plants to chickens to cows and pigs! I brought my steer a few months back and it finally came in July of today, the 12th. Now usually it is good to halterbreak it, meaning get it used to being led around in a halter and leadrope, BUT the owner of the steers didn't really let us get near them since he kept them out in an open pasture. I'm gonna try not to go into too much detail but he weighed around 200 or so pounds, though I'm not sure since I never wrote it down... And he still has baby fur! X3 He seems to be the stubborn type with a curious and cautious attitude after I watched him for a while. Though they are VERY loud animals when they are weaned off their mothers, or separated to stop drinking milk. And I mean LOUD! I could barely hear anything! But I am happy with how much he has calmed down in just one day, I can't wait to get started working with him and I plan to keep a journal here and update every week if I can of my progress. BUT because of this steer, volunteering at an animal shelter, AND working on making an amazing map for the public, I may not be online or on the forums to much, but I will try to visit every day and get anything that was requested of me done! ^^ Now onto the pictures!


This was the best picture I was able to get of him as a small calf, way back in....March..? I think?
This is how he looks right now, he seems pretty calm already but was very stressed in the beginning. Separation stress from what my teacher said. And he seems to have a new friend too! ^^ Oh! And he has on the halter and the leadrope now because I wasn't able to do it before, so now he can sort of get used to the yanking and pulling because when he steps on it, it pulls his head down. Oh, and he had two booboos on his eyebrow and back of his hoof, right below the two claw looking things on the back of his front right leg, though the teacher said it was nothing and they would just wash it down with some peroxide.

And this is me feeding it on the first day! X3 I was surprised he let me! I had tried three times before when he was laying down but was finally able to get him to eat from my hand!

July 20, 2014

It's been a week and he is doing amazing. Though he has a cut on his right, foreleg, hoof claw thing, but my teacher poured peroxide on it and said it would be fine, other than one other problem, he seems to be pretty chill. I was able to change the harness with the help of one of my growing friend down at the stalls, she's super helpful and nice! But I am able to walk him with the leadrope well enough, he doesn't kick or anything but pulls and walks a but fast sometimes. The only problem he really has his scratching and pressing his head against my leg. Other than that, he is a very calm and easy to handle steer, some of the other steer people think he is doing really well too. Some of us even teamed up to put down a mixture of clay and sand in our pens so it would drain out the water and stay mostly dry and easy to clean. But I have grown really close to him already but I get emotional even now when I have to sell him off in February. But hey, they are going to get slaughtered for meat eventually, might as well give them love and give them some neat experiences. Right?

August 3, 2014

Whoops, seems I've skipped a week! But not much has really been done...actually I take that back, a LOT has been done! First off, he had a bit of blood in his manure, and this, of course, made me flip a lid! I was worried, the other people at the stables were worried, my teacher was kinda worried, ugh! But we were able to take samples of his poo and it turns out what we thought it was: worms/bacteria/a cut in his intestines, we were wrong. He was perfectly fine! His body was just getting used to the feed is all. You see, he comes from a pasture where all he ate was hay and grass, so his body wasn't used to this. Also, we cut his water bucket in half since he doesn't drink as much as we thought and it's easier to clean and I got him a brand new, beautiful blue halter! He's gained weight and growing fast. Oh, and his name is Onyx. So far people say he's one of the best steers. He hardly ever moos and instead just does quiet ones with his mouth closed, he walks very good for never being around humans and he very affectionate, most of the time and he was even fine with me giving him a bath. He loves to lick too my gosh! I get licked in the hair, arms, shirt, shorts/pants, legs, and even my boots! And his tongue is rough! If you have ever felt a cow tongue, you know, if not, picture a cat's tongue but twenty times bigger and can move like a giraffe tongue! But with walking him he does pretty good, his main problem is getting excited when I have to put him back into his pen 'cause he KNOWS he's getting food. Other than that all he really does is want to walk faster and sometimes move his head or go off course a little. He hardly ever kicks, only once or twice, once at my mom since he wouldn't walk and the rest is just him being playful. HIs babyfur is also coming off as well with one of the new baby fur brushes we got...we brought a LOT of things for this guy and put down a second layer of a clay and sand mixture since the last one was too thin and he kept mudding it up. He's an eater though! I timed him eating and he scarfed down his food within 15 minutes! And he ALWAYS wants hay. Wheew, what a mouthful! But he's a wonderful steer and I love him and he loves me, he nuzzles me and I can lean on him when we lay down together. He's so sweet. I even got a little toy steer and painted a blue halter on him! But I'll have to shave of one of the dewclaws (the back two hoof claws) since he's gonna lose one from the cut earlier mentioned.

September 14, 2014

Alrighty, so yesterday he got a new tag in his ear, the one for the fair. We had to get up at like 5 in the morning and head down there, load up the steers, and then wait like two hours. It was so sad though, Onyx cried and mooed painfully when they did the shots and retagged him. But it turns out he weighs 784 pounds, my friend thought it would be less than 600 when his was almost 900 pounds! Afterwards, once he was back in his pen, he was all depressed for the whole day and even some in the morning, I felt awful. But other than that, we put new sand in all of the steers pens, meaning we had to dig out eight pens, dump the muck, and refill it with sand, it was a lot of work and I almost passed out once or twice, I think I may have low blood sugar or something...Anyways, the reason why we did this is because twice now half of the pens have flooded out and one of them was so bad, it even got into the main isle, ugh. Plus I had to re-dig his trenches. But it was fun at the same time. I helped herd a small bull calf and watched them castrate two of them, it was sad but interesting to watch. Before all of this I had let Onyx out of his pen to roam around a bit, at first he just grazed and then went crazy, bucking and jumping, I laughed for a good ten minutes because he is never hyper like that, and he's starting to moo more! I got a recording of it and now it is my new ringer. And it turns out I should be feeding him 23 pounds a day...right now I'm at 13.5 pounds. Other than that, I think that is it...

October 3, 2014

Today is Onyx's birthday! He is a year old and sadly it will be his only birthday, so I made him a cake out of his favorite treats and put a birthday hat on his head. Nothing much has really happened except for when me and three others were walking our animals after my birthday party and he was the only one who didn't go crazy and buck or anything. It's been raining a whole lot here though and so the pens have been really muddy and sloshy, hoping it'll end soon since winter is coming. I have had to redo his trench in his pen so many times...ugh.

January 4, 2015

Happy new year! Though this may be a time to make new goals and start fresh, Onyx's time is almost up...he has until February 21st to be with me, then fair, auction, and finally...food. But I hope to make his life still better in these last months...On the brighter side! I got him a horse ball for Christmas, and he does in fact play with it, I even decorated his pen along with two other people. He also stepped on my foot freakin' like a month ago or something, hurt like a butt, and then he did it again this morning! But it wasn't a full step like the last one, but nothing was broken on either step. He is a smart steer and has learned how to get his halter off it seems everyday, some of these steers are even escaping! It amazes me how intelligent they are and how other people see them as being so stupid. But not much has happenedu through these months that I haven't been updating, so that is why I have not been posting.

February 22, 2015

Well, fair starts tomorrow and Onyx will be gone by Tuesday...he has had a good life I think and I have grown a very strong bond with him, but this is how it was supposed to end. I will forever miss him and hopes that he will still love me from Heaven. I have cried many times, even cried myself to sleep and have been super stressed about this. But I am spending as much time as I can with him these last few days. He is about 1450 pounds and still has a slick coat. I am hoping he will do good in fair. I even kept his tail fur and put it in a jar and then into necklaces for friends.

February 24, 2015

Here it is! The last day of fair. Show went well last night, I got fourth place out of six for the heaviest class, Class 10, and Onyx was tied for biggestweight with 1,505 pounds. He stepped on my foot three times too lol. I woke up at like 4:30 a.m. and stayed at fair till like 10:30, p.m. went to bed at 12. He was pretty antsy some of the times and was mooning a bunch, which is super rare for him. But anywho, this morning is showmanship which is basically showing how well I can walk my animal while show was how Onyx looked. Then tonight is auction and that will be the end of it.

February 24, 2015 10:00 p.m.
Onyx is gone. I loaded him on the trailer and he will be fed hay until this weekend at another place. Though the death is painless. A shock to the forehead to numb them and then a cut on the throat to bleed them, so they feel nothing. I did not cry while I still had him because I wanted to be strong in front of him. The last words he heard from me were those that I told him everyday:
"Bye bye Onyx, I love you."

[Jackkdaw]

Oooo that is quite the awesome experience, eh?
That steer is absolutely adorable! I wish you luck in caring for him. He already looks happy.
I look forward to another update soon!

[wolfdog01]

I hope he's happy, I threw down some gentle farm music and it got all of the steers attention lol but today it ate from me again and let me pet him! X3 tomorrow I have to get the harness off and that's gonna be a hassle...

[DuskWolfy]

D'aww Very cute Thyme. I do like the looks of that steer. ^.^ Goodluck. I may be getting a goat soon! I'm excited so hopefully my goat won't be stubborn like your steer. Lol

[Whisperingwaves]

Ooo, he's adorable Thyme ^^ I bid ya luck on caring for and training him, as I know it's a big job :3 I have a horse, who's stubborn, but they grow out of it <3 Good luck and have funz!

~ Whisper

[wolfdog01]

Updated! ^^

[wolfdog01]

Updated!

[wolfdog01]

UPDATED!

[SnappleApple]

LOL, Sounds fun, darlin'.
Snapple wants to have a cow eat out of her hand. :V
-Squaaak-
~Snapple

[Kastilla]

He's very cute. I will just stick to my dog and all of my stray cats. ...all of them. Every. Single. One of them. *distracted*