Serious Situation on the Homestead!

We have got a serious situation on the homestead: cows on the loose.

Part of my reasoning for getting a cow was because they aren’t supposed to be escape artists like goats….supposed to be. Yet, there I was chasing my cow from here to kingdom come around the perimeter of the property.

What the heck happened?

Well, I let a farmer graze their cattle on some pasture in the back of my property, so there are about 20 cattle roaming the backside of my property. Cows are social animals and prefer to be in herds, so I noticed they started to come around where I had my milk cow fenced in. They were separated by two lines of fencing, so I thought I was okay. There was no way they could get to each other, right? I learned I was horribly wrong…

I woke up at the crack of dawn the other morning ready to go milk my cow. I’m soaking in the silence of the morning and enjoying the feel of the sun peaking over the mountains until I get back to my cow’s barn and realize she isn’t in there. Not only is she not in her barn, but also her entire fencing area was DEMOLISHED. Not just tipped over, demolished. Her water buckets were tossed about, all of her mineral was eaten, grass trampled, and her wire fencing was scoured through the field and knotted beyond repair. Instantly, my blood began to boil because I know the farmer’s cattle had busted through my cow’s fencing and destroyed the place. Manure all over the barn, pieces struck loose on my newly built stanchion, and things tossed about. I was so shocked, I stood there for 15 minutes in complete disbelief then I set off to go find my cow.

Ol’ Bessy (that’s not her name she doesn’t have a name yet but it works for now) was all the way kitty corner from the barn at the front of the property. I find the dang HERD of cattle up front. I try to herd them with my UTV with no luck. I try to spray her with a bottle of spray to herd her back to her barn, no luck. I try to rope her, no luck. I go back to my garage to get her some grain to lead her and by the time I’m back to the herd, they had gone through my garden, trampled my blueberry bushes, TOPPLED a fruit tree, destroyed my rhubarb, and much more. I count miracles daily, and right here I had a miracle: they didn’t destroy my bees that were right there! They destroyed everything around but not my bees. Truly, a miracle and a sweet tender mercy that I am grateful for.

I got to my milk cow and tried to lure her with grains but the stupid other cattle tried pushing her away to get to the grain, so I had no luck. I decided it was time to pull out the big guns….I got my adopted dogs out. They are savage, love chasing animals, and don’t put up with ANYTHING. So the herd decided to run the opposite way of the barn, but I had to go with it. The dogs were chasing off the other cows while I tried to get to mine. I almost had her cornered then she booked it to the other side of the property. Along the way of following her, I fell in a puddle, cried, and MAYBE cursed a few times. After chasing her for an hour, I finally got her cornered and was able to herd her back to her barn with a spray bottle.

I had messaged the farmer to let him know the DISASTER his cattle caused and that he needed to fix the fence ASAP. Turns out, the electric fence was dead because the battery had died… it got fixed but I’m still reliving the nightmare.

And to think..I thought goats were escape artists?