When there's only one cow in a herd, problems could arise. Some of these problems have been experienced with the City of Guymon's wildlife reserve and refuge recently, spurring a staff recommendation to city council to approve the surplus sale of five of the city's watusi-longhorn cross bulls.
"Everyone… should know if you want to have a number of livestock, you have to have more girls than you do boys. Right now we have five bulls and one cow," Project Manager David Harris stated before city council.
The cow from the reserve birthed one calf in the spring. For the time being, the cow is being contained in the elk pen contained on the land.
"We don't want to put her back out there with five bulls," Harris said.
Harris said staff hopes to use the funds obtained from the sale of the surplus sale animals to purchase purebred longhorns, the traditional livestock that hearkens back to the pioneer days.