We have around 100 heifer calves in our pens right now. They'll feed them for awhile and whittle that number down once they decide how many they want to keep for replacements. We've had rain and snow but above-freezing temps so the pens have been pretty mucky. We have a grassy area adjacent to the pens where we can let them out. M and R have done a lot of work on that area so that it's all wood corral or windbreak except for three gates that are wire reinforced with stays. M was feeling bad for the calves being in the muck so he decided to let them out the other day. He was a bit concerned because they are still a bit spooky but gave it a try. R's girlfriend came home from work Friday night and as she was closing the metal swinging gate something spooked them and they ran headlong into one of the wire fences. They hit it so hard that the post broke and the gate fell down and they headed south. R was there quickly and locked in the few that remained and tried to find where the others had gone. They went up the hill and through a fence, but it was too dark to do anything but hope they didn't blow through too many fences before they settled down.
M wasn't home at the time, and I was the bearer of the good news when he did get home. Man, was he mad! Neither of us slept very well that night, worried about where they might have gone, and were up early and out of the house as soon as the sun was up to try to find them. We thought they would head to the cows, but there were no gates down or holes in fences and no sign of them there. We finally spotted 11 (of 60 to 70). We started pushing them toward home with the pickup and got them just about there when they circled and spread out and headed the wrong direction. At that point I went to get a 4-wheeler and M grabbed a bale to try to entice them without too much luck. Then we went to get a few cows to move with them. That wasn't so easy either since the cows didn't want to leave the herd. Finally, we got a few cows to move and R rounded up the calves for the second time and the two groups met and moved easily home. So far, so good....except we were still missing 50 to 60 head.
M was wondering where to look first and R said "just follow the holes in the fences", but there was really just one hole. From there they headed south and east and found an open gate that led to a small pasture and then to a water corral. I had gone south into the neighbor's pasture but just got up the hill, looked east and saw them so went to join R to push them home. I always say that M wants to do things the hard way before trying the easy way to see if it will work. He didn't think we'd be able to push them home without some cows along, but that would have been a few miles for the cows and more work for us. R and I were able to push them home without much trouble. We were trying to push them slowly so M would have time to get gates and panels ready before we got there. That wasn't so easy, and he barely had enough time. They are going to have to have some time to settle down so probably won't be granted release again until after Christmas.
We were hoping to haul cull cows to market last week, but the roads were too wet and we couldn't get trucks and trailers in and out so they finally were hauled out today. We had some rain overnight with some ice, but it wasn't too slick. We didn't want to have to feed them all for another week.
I'm still hoping for bad weather (well, almost) so I can pin M down to do some paperwork. I made him a to-do list today so we'll see how that goes. We have a vacation planned in December so a lot of that stuff has to get done before that. Wish us luck!
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