Wednesday, July 11, 2012

the time we spent 13 hours looking for lost calves

Yesterday started off with a bang. We woke up to a phone call that a bunch of our newly-weaned calves were on the loose. We suspect that the reason why this happened had something to do with the fact that we could audibly hear all of the mama cows moo-ing from their pasture over 2 miles away. If we could hear it, then the hungry calves could too. There were 7 calves roaming fields of corn that stands over 6 feet tall, and we spend the entire day playing hide-n-seek with them. 

Towards the end of the day, Chris had the bright idea that I should go down to the barn and try to make the remaining calves beller. I tried stirring them up, which usually works, but they had gotten too comfortable with me due to previous efforts. So, I stood on the other side of the barn door and gave my best impression of a hungry calf moo-ing. And it worked.. The other calves joined in unison and started calling. Before I knew it the final 3 calves were rounding the corner of our driveway making a beeline for the barn. Chris was so stressed out all day and it seemed like all hope of finding them had flown out the window. So when a friend called us to say that he'd spotted the final 3 only a field or two away from our yard, a big sigh of relief was let out. 

The part of the fence that they got out of was comprised of fiberglass posts and electrified wire, where as the rest of the front pen they were in consisted of large white fence posts and electrified wire. Chris called the company we have fence for us yesterday and the ball has been sent rolling on getting the rest of that pen fenced with the big white posts. So hopefully we never have to worry about that exact scenario again. 

2 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness!! This would be SO stressful! Your plan was so simple yet so brilliant... glad it worked!
    My mom has stories from growing up of always chasing down her sheep when they got out... Raising animals would just be too stressful for me!

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  2. This post reminded me of the scene in Anne of Green Gables where her cow is loose...have you seen that?? Haha so great. I'm glad your tricks worked and the cows came home safe and sound!! What a day!

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