It's been a while since we posted an update on our draft cattle Elly and Milou. Sometimes things don't quite go according to plan - that's the case with our funding project. But things took a very good turn!
Since our project manager Joana Ryser will soon become a mother, we had to look for new solutions for the implementation of our social farming project, with which we want to create niche jobs for the long-term unemployed. Fortunately, thanks to Vera Hofer, we have now found such solutions.
Vera, an agronomist with a specialization in equine science, joined the project a few months ago to support Joana in the future. Vera currently works in the field of education of poultry professionals and keeps two Freiberger horses with which she drives carriages in her spare time.
Vera Hofer has not only found joy in Elly and Milou and trained with them regularly, but with her experience in training and harnessing animals, she has also been able to bring many new inputs to the project.
In the coming months, the training of our two draft cattle and the practical work, as we have already tested this year in potato cultivation, will again be the main focus.
Next spring Elly and Milou will move from Wingey to Biembach to Vera's farm. Elly is to become a mother cow again and Milou, who is getting bigger and stronger, is to be harnessed soon.
Milou is currently wearing a headdress to straighten his horns. With oxen, these often grow outward, which is can quickly go wrong for the ox or for fellow humans: Milou could get caught in the feed fence and injure those who work with him.