Ever Do Anything Like This?

[skyline]

So I woke up yesterday morning and looked out the window at first light. The dogs were barking and I thought something was wrong. Sure enough, I had a front yard full of cows. Now this normally wouldn't be that big of a deal, but I don't have a good fence to my east and there is about 500 acres of timber and rough woods that I don't own over there. To the south is an open driveway gate that opens onto a busy county road with blind hills and curves. I think I had a little heart attack when I first looked out and saw them.

But crisis was quickly averted. They all followed me in my boxers with a feed bucket right back through the panel that I had left unchained the night before. Turns out when I was fixing a water tank and loading my backrubber the night before, I forgot to rechain a panel that I had been through. Kicked myself several times as I was rechaining the panel, stepping through the cow manure on the way into the barn, and restacking all of the square bales under the pole barn that they played with the night before.

I'm usually OCD when it comes to closing and latching gates that I go through. I'll check it, walk away, and recheck because I'm so blooming paranoid about the cows getting out. Not sure where my head was the night before.

Anybody else have "cows got out" stories to share?

 

[skyline]

OK, got one more story. Woke up with the doorbell ringing about 6:15 one morning about 2 years ago. Turns out my heifers were out in the county road out front. They had been poking their heads through the front fence for days (pipe fence with sucker rods running horizontal). They finally worked one of the sucker rods loose (new section of fence - bad weld). There were 6 of them having a good time in the ditch when I got out there. They wound up in the neighbors back yard before I could get back with a bucket of feed. He has a swimming pool with no fence around it. Fortunately I was able to call them back through the hole in the fence before one of them took a dip in the pool!

The guy that knocked on my door came back with his welder and fixed the fence for me that morning. Wouldn't take any money for it. I was able to feed him lunch. Great neighbor and a good friend now!

 

[Alice]

When we were raising holstein steers for someone we'd have jail breaks periodically. The one I remember the best is when the kid that lives down the road and across the pasture from us (they are horse people) came up to the house about 2:00 a.m. I stumbled to the door and he said, "Are ya'll missing a cow?" At that time we had 200 about out here (not including the bottle babies), and I said, "Well, it's possible. What color is it?" He said, "Black and white." I said, "Yep, it's one of ours. Is it bothering anything? (with hopes that I wouldn't have to do anything about it until the morning.) He said, "Well, my mother sent me up here. It's standing right outside her bedroom bawling and it's kind of annoying."

I called my brother...he was the one in charge of the steers...and told him he needed to go get the steer. He started his usual, "Alice, that steer will be fine 'til morning, blah, blah, blah..." so, I said hold on, and handed the phone to the kid. Bless that boy's heart, he was just as polite as could be. I heard him tell my brother the same thing, then say, "ok, ok, ok...I'll tell her. Thanks." He handed me back the phone, and said thanks. I thought, well great, my brother skated again, and I went back to bed. In about 10 minutes I heard the trailer bumping down the road. I had to smile...

Alice

 

[Lammie]

Had six calves go through the fence, out of a gate, onto the county road and into a neighbor's place where there was no fence. I woke up, looked outside and seeing no animals, went driving down the road looking for them. I had to get them back the same way they got out, which is tricky, as that road is pretty busy every morning. It was a miniature cattle drive, me in front with the feed bucket and my son in back with a stick. Got them back in, fixed the hole in the fence and was not even late for work.

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

happened twice this year so far. One of those "I thought you did" things

 

[I luv herfrds]

Had an interesting one back in '96.
I was pregnant with my son and was taking a nap when our phone rang. the person on the other end said, "Your heifers are out and in our wheat, come get them."; click.
Sitting there groggy, I had no idea who had just called. Got up and went and found my husband, now I'm ticked off.
Found him and we went to where our heifers are pastured. Counted, everybody was there. Maybe it was some from the main herd, went out there and counted 3 times. Everyone accounted for.
Counted our steers, they are all there.
Who called? No idea.
A day later I noticed that we had some extra cows with our steers.
Found out that another neighbors Hereford heifers had gotten out and a different neighbor who couldn't read a brand just put them in with ours.

 

[bandit80]

Where my brother and I wean calves, there are two seperate walk-in gates that must be chained to be closed. After weaning a new group of about 65 calves, I walked in one gate, didn't shut it behind me, and walked out the other. Needless to say, they found it in the night/early morning, and all but about 10 calves that had been off mommas for only a day were running loose. They didn't know to come to a feed bucket, pickup, nothing. It was a time getting them back in, they had made it about 1/2 mile.

On two seperate occasions last year, someone left the pasture gate open to where I keep around 22-24 pairs. There was a pipeline coming through the area, and surveyors were surveying the ground, and marking right of ways, easements, etc. The first time I thought it was just a coincidence. The second time, this is what happened. The rep from the pipeline called me and said they would be going through the pasture on foot. :roll: The day they were back there, the adjacent landowner called and said I had "several" cows and calves out in his beans. They hadn't been there long, but the gate was wide open. I was in turn late to a cousins wedding because of it. They didn't do much if any damage to his beans, it was early in the summer and they weren't very tall yet. I sent the pipeline a bill. $50 for putting the cows back in. $25 for chain and padlock. $75 for missing my cousin walk down the aisle. I never did see any money, but it made me feel better sending it. :lol2:

Just this spring, I took a load of cows to this same pasture in early April. 8 pair was all that went, as the remaining were being AI'd. I had gone around the fences 3 weeks prior, closed the three gates, and was good to go. In the meantime, my brother must go through two of the gates to get to an isolated crop field so he could spray. Well, he didn't bother shutting the gates, so needless to say the 8 pair found one of the open ones. The other neighbor saw them, put them back in, and shut the gate for me. We share a fence between our pastures, and he is very cooperative. It is good having good neighbors. Have four different neighbors at my father-in-laws place. Three are great, one is a pure you know what.

Should I go on??

 

[Kenz]

One of my friends had a little Angus X heifer that got out and their neighbor stuck it in a field with longhorns, thinking that it was part of the herd. Thing was he knew my friend had a little black heifer and that the other neighbor only had Longhorns. Nice of him to try help, though.

 

[Jogeephus]

I've had them get out but the scaredest time had a little different twist to it. I had moved some weanlings to another pasture by themselves. I went out to check them one day and they were nowhere to be seen. All the gates were shut so I walked the fences to find the breech. An hour or so later I determined the fences were in good shape and they did not get out through the fence. RUSTLERS!!!! I thought. So I start to head to town to see the sheriff when I heard something in an abandoned house that is on the farm. Once I start looking more closely, I see the dang calves had pushed the door in and they were all inside the house looking at me from the windows. :lol2:

 

[hillsdown]

I have a really stupid one. When we first moved here we bought some 3 in ones, anyways one steer was named Walter ,he was a nice red color not to light and not to dark. Anyways it was almost dark and I noticed something in the hay field, it was a ways away and I thought it was "Walter" and he some how got separated from the herd in the pasture and was alone by himself in the hay field. I run out there and try to "catch " him as he was very friendly, I tried my darnedest but he kept running as I am calling " Walter come back". So I gave up and went home thinking that he will be OK until the next day .Go out early in the morn the next day and the cows were in the pasture close to the house ,look again and low and behold who is with his mommy but "Walter". :???: Do a count ,yep all there;check the fence it is intact.... :?

Get a call from the neighbor a couple of hours later telling me that a cougar has been spotted between our properties and to keep a close watch out for it. Good thing that cougar kept running as I was calling it "Walter" and trying to bring it back home. :dunce:

 

[cattleluvr18]

my worst time was when i left the gate open and our bred heifers got into a cornfield. this was in august too so it was like 10 feet tall and nice, green and THICK. it was pretty much my worse nightmare coming true.

but the worst that i have ever heard of was last summer like 2 weeks before our county fair. they left the door open to their cool room and they calves got shut in. the air was NOT on and the calves all 6 calves died. one of the girls found them. when she opened the door a head come out. this is one of the moments where i was actually glad they dont love and get involved with their calves, they're the kind who just has their dad do everything. now me on the other hand, i love my calves. i could not have been able to stomach finding all of my calves dead. i would have lost it and it may even have ruined me from ever having calves again.

 

[grannysoo]

It happens to all of us. Is it just me, or do you find they are always out when you need to be somewhere else...

 

[ChrisB]

I had cows get out twice yesterday within 2 hours. Through the same gate that I left open each time!

 

[Chris H]

We were on our way home from church earlier this year. We were discussing the fact that we had to get the bull out of the field where he wintered with the coming 2 year olds who were just beginning to calve. We weren't set up to separate one animal in that field, we always moved them into it in the fall and everyone out in the spring before calving. We decided we'd have to put up a temporary gathering pen, and I wasn't looking forward to the extra work.

We got home and on the answering machine was a call from the neighbor who bordered that field. Our bull had gotten through the fence that morning and the neighbor had him penned in their corral! Neighbor used to have buffalo, now rents the pasture for backgrounding calves, and we've pastured in that field for 10 years; no one had ever gotten through that fence before. We took our trailer, a couple packages of steaks for the neighbor, and got the bull home easier than we ever dreamed!