What a night

[boondocks]

One of those nights. Went to check cows at eight and the gate we had our 4 yearlings in was wiiiiiide open. (The gate was closed this am and they were there and fine then). The chain had been opened at the latch (not busted) and the gate was opened uphill, against the soil, and left wide open. Cows nowhere to be seen. No manure nearby, no hoofprints, no chewed grass...The beautiful field of hay right next to them (and which we had planned to turn them out into shortly) was untouched. The fence holding in the other 12 (up the farm road a bit) was untouched and still electrified.

We looked high and low and eventually, reluctantly, called cops, who came and collected evidence, although it was dark by then. We called and asked some people who we knew had been on the property earlier in the day (with our ok) whether they may have opened the gate for some reason and forgot to close it--got denials all-around.

Finally, we drove down from the top side of the property at 10:30 and found them in a high spot, bedded down but outside any fencing. it was too late to get them in safely, so am waiting for daybreak and hoping they are there and we can get them back in readily. Had to call cops and eat crow, which doesn't make me happy--we only called when we had exhausted other possibilities as best we could. Now, we are faced with the possibility that people that we know are lying to us about leaving the gate open, or that some a-holes came and let them out for fun. I put the word out that we will forgive whoever left it open, but I want to know it was an accident and not someone doing it on purpose. I think we will need to install some cameras, regardless.

 

[Anonymous]

Hope there still there ! trail cams can be used but if someone see them ! mine come up missing most of the time.

 

[M-5]

There azz would be helping me get them back home.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Every small operation should have their cows bucket trained. Range cubes work great for this. Just call or yodel the same sound to them everytime before you feed them. They will answer you and start your way.
And the open gate issue is easy to fix with a combo lock. Or just don't let anyone on the property.

 

[CCCowman]

Every small operation should have their cows bucket trained. Range cubes work great for this. Just call or yodel the same sound to them everytime before you feed them. They will answer you and start your way.
And the open gate issue is easy to fix with a combo lock. Or just don't let anyone on the property.

That's exactly what I do! I even have them trained to the sound of my truck horn. I only have 9 momma's and a bull (plus the little ones right now) and I buy 200 lbs of Southern States Co-Op's "Beef Mix" every month. That's $21/month or $2.10 per head and it's worth every bit of it the first time one gets out! Plus I like to throw them some feed out and sit on my bucket and talk to them.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Every exterior gate has a lock on it at our place.

 

[Jogeephus]

Its sad to say but you can't hardly let people have free roam on your property because they just don't get it. Add a person add a problem.

 

[Kingfisher]

Every small operation should have their cows bucket trained. Range cubes work great for this. Just call or yodel the same sound to them everytime before you feed them. They will answer you and start your way.
And the open gate issue is easy to fix with a combo lock. Or just don't let anyone on the property.

! Plus I like to throw them some feed out and sit on my bucket and talk to them.

What do ya'll talk about?

 

[Brute 23]

I agree with both the lock and being cube broke. When the lock is left open its some one who had access. When its just a snap, who knows.

 

[Ol' 243]

I padlock my main gate every night, just to keep some a$$hat from opening my gate, everyone that should be there knows the combo.

 

[inyati13]

Have a bull gate put on all access points. Chain and lock. Easy to cut with bolt cutters but prevents the locals from entering. Hinge end of gate can be easily lifted off hangars. Put chain on hinge side of gate or drive a spike in above the hangar.

I was late one morning to let a fencing crew in. They had the gate open in 2 minutes by taking gate off hangars.

 

[CCCowman]

Every small operation should have their cows bucket trained. Range cubes work great for this. Just call or yodel the same sound to them everytime before you feed them. They will answer you and start your way.
And the open gate issue is easy to fix with a combo lock. Or just don't let anyone on the property.

! Plus I like to throw them some feed out and sit on my bucket and talk to them.

What do ya'll talk about?

Whatever is on their mind. Once a month I give them a chance to let me know how I can improve things for them. I must be doing pretty good. .......haven't had any complaints! !!

 

[TCRanch]

Did you get them back? Hopefully all are okay.

There was a horrible accident last weekend about 15 miles north of us, a motorcycle hit a bull at 10:30 p.m., the driver was killed & his wife is in serious condition. Of course now half the community is blaming the owner of the bull (who broke its back & was euthanized) because it was out. The results of the investigation haven't been released so as of now nobody knows if a gate had been left open, fence was down (or cut) or if it was simply a bull looking for love on the other side of the highway.

 

[M.Magis]

Have a bull gate put on all access points. Chain and lock. Easy to cut with bolt cutters but prevents the locals from entering. Hinge end of gate can be easily lifted off hangars. Put chain on hinge side of gate or drive a spike in above the hangar.

I was late one morning to let a fencing crew in. They had the gate open in 2 minutes by taking gate off hangars.

Flip the top hanger upside down and it can’t be lifted off.

 

[Nesikep]

TCranch, they must have been moving at quite a clip... Sucks for everyone involved

Boondocks, Glad to hear you at least found them, and hope you got them back home

 

[Jackson]

Did you get them back? Hopefully all are okay.

There was a horrible accident last weekend about 15 miles north of us, a motorcycle hit a bull at 10:30 p.m., the driver was killed & his wife is in serious condition. Of course now half the community is blaming the owner of the bull (who broke its back & was euthanized) because it was out. The results of the investigation haven't been released so as of now nobody knows if a gate had been left open, fence was down (or cut) or if it was simply a bull looking for love on the other side of the highway.

Can the family sue the owner of the bull?

 

[BRYANT]

Flip the top hanger upside down and it can’t be lifted off.[/quote]

loose the bolt and you still can move hanger very easy If hanger is not welded I can get in any gate in less than 2 min.
Have each person that enters your property have their own lock then you know which lock is left unlocked, unless they lock it back with out shutting the gate. I have seen some of these Okla. gates with 15 or 20 locks on them depending on how much oil and gas work is going on.
Trail cameras use the ones that sends you a picture as soon as it is taken then if it gets stolen you will know who took it , maybe,

 

[TCRanch]

Did you get them back? Hopefully all are okay.

There was a horrible accident last weekend about 15 miles north of us, a motorcycle hit a bull at 10:30 p.m., the driver was killed & his wife is in serious condition. Of course now half the community is blaming the owner of the bull (who broke its back & was euthanized) because it was out. The results of the investigation haven't been released so as of now nobody knows if a gate had been left open, fence was down (or cut) or if it was simply a bull looking for love on the other side of the highway.

Can the family sue the owner of the bull?

It's my understanding that if it's a first time offense the owner is not liable (how can that be proven?) but if their livestock getting out is a habitual problem criminal negligent charges can be filed. At this point we still don't know if alcohol was involved or how fast he was going but it's a 65 mph highway. That said, regardless of whether the Sheriff finds him liable, the family can definitely sue because anyone can sue anybody for anything. That's why we carry a giant freakin' umbrella on our ranch policy.

 

[JMJ Farms]

Did you get them back? Hopefully all are okay.

There was a horrible accident last weekend about 15 miles north of us, a motorcycle hit a bull at 10:30 p.m., the driver was killed & his wife is in serious condition. Of course now half the community is blaming the owner of the bull (who broke its back & was euthanized) because it was out. The results of the investigation haven't been released so as of now nobody knows if a gate had been left open, fence was down (or cut) or if it was simply a bull looking for love on the other side of the highway.

Can the family sue the owner of the bull?

Not sure about Kansas, but in Georgia the law basically says that you Are supposed to make a reasonable attempt to keep livestock contained. Basically boils down to if a tree falls on your fence and cow gets out and ran over you're not liable. If it's rusty and broken and the posts are rotted and the fence is on the ground, you are probably liable. Like mentioned above though, I'm almost positive they can be sued for civil damages, but maybe or maybe not for criminal charges. Sad either way. This (and deer) is one of the main reasons I don't drive motorcycles.

 

[boondocks]

TCranch, they must have been moving at quite a clip... Sucks for everyone involved

Boondocks, Glad to hear you at least found them, and hope you got them back home

Thanks all! Got them back in at 6 am. They hung around the other side of the fence from their mommas all night luckily. The whole thing is still quite odd. We have a lock on it now. Somebody knows more than they are saying--we just don't know who that "someone" is. The folks who are on the "suspect" list did come help; they are young folks and usually reliable, so we did not get too hot with anyone, plus who knows, it could have been vandals. Unlikely, though--we are pretty secluded and it would be a lot of work to get up to us.

Just glad we got them back. I was seriously bummed there for awhile-2 steers and 2 heifers, one of which is a beaut. For our little operation, I'm not sure it would've been a sustainable loss, as it was our whole "crop" for last year.