A More Permanent Path

Jul
7

Last year, I had this temporary chute of fencing set up to get Glory Bee across the access roads between fields for milking.
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It worked all right for Glory Bee, but anytime I was also moving other cows with her, especially calves, they’d just sprint under the wires and dance off. Calves think they are so funny. You should have seen Moon Pie chasing the chickens around the barnyard last night. Anyway! I decided to fence in this area between the access roads this year.
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It was, previously, being mowed and that needed to stop. It’s grass for cows to eat, not to be wasted on mowing. Robbie and Rodney used telephone poles to set as heavy gate posts for the new 16-foot gates that had a double purpose….
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But first let me tell you about my new hay spear!
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I’m planning on round bales this winter for the cows and horses, which will make my wintertime feeding job so much easier. And now that I can drive the tractor, and have a hay spear, I can move round bales! But here is how the hay spear got used this past week, for fencing.
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To hold the roll of barb wire while it was being pulled along the fence line. I thought that was rather ingenious.

Meanwhile, here’s what’s going on with the gates. The original temporary chute used the big gate at the back barn yard to come across one of the access roads. This provided the only truly secure portion of the temporary chute–the rest of it was made up of wire that was hooked on to make a chute (and that calves would go under or break down). When I decided to fence in the field between the access roads, it occurred to me–why not put up more gates that can be opened so that they make what is still a temporary (because I can’t permanently block the access roads) but secure path for the cows between the fields?
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When they’re closed, they make gates on the fields, but when they’re open–
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–I have a secure path between the fields that even calves can’t break. (The field in between is fenced in, so it’s just the areas of the two access roads I have to secure now.)
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I love it! The only problem I’ve found so far, in testing this out with the cows, is that when they see me coming, they start pounding over to me, barely giving me time to get the gates opened and set up right before they’re on me. I’ll have to practice sneaking up on them, I guess….





Comments

  1. margiesbooboo says:

    Love it!

  2. Dghawk says:

    Good luck on sneaking up on the cows, or any of your critters for that matter. My suggestion would be to open and secure the gate farthest from them first because they will be at the other one as soon as they see you coming. Then you open and secure their gate. That way, no escapees. Then when they are in the other field, close that gate first. But then I figure you already figured that out, Farmer McMinn. :moo:

  3. Cousin Mark says:

    INSTRUCTIONS FOR MOVING PAMPERED COWS-N-CALVES

    1.BAKE THREE BATCHES OF ASSORTED COOKIES.
    2.PLACE CRACKED BROKEN COOKIES IN APPROVED COW PROOF CONTAINER.
    3. OPEN BARN STALL DOOR, TRICK CATTLE INSIDE WITH COOKIES, SHUT DOOR.
    4. OPEN AND SECURE NEAT NEW ROAD CROSSING GATES IN TRANSFER POSITION.
    5. RELEASE CATTLE FROM BARN, TEASE WITH COOKIES MOVE TO FIELD B
    6. TEACH CATTLE THE “STAY” COMMAND WITH COOKIES. CLOSE ALL GATES.
    7. GIVE CATTLE RELEASE COMMAND “EAT GRASS”,RETURN TO HOUSE
    8……….FINALLY CALL COUSIN FOR VISIT INCLUDING MILK AND COOKIES
    (COUSIN ALREADY TRAINED TO APPEAR FOR COOKIES)

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