Keys to Working on a Farm: The Gate

They can be made out of wood, steel, aluminum, fiberglass, or a combination.
Gates.
And they are muy importante.(That's for my Hispanic following.)

Last night, around 8pm, I am finishing up dinner and I get a call from my LoveMuffin.
"Hi LoveMuffinShnookums!", I say, "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, running barefoot through meadows of Lavendar, and picnicking by the spring..."
"-you have cows out", says a voice I know is his, yet the crazy-talk I am hearing is not registering.

"Crap", that was the best I had at that moment.

Last night was his first night back, and he heard dispatch call it out, so he immediately knew that those cows morethanlikely belonged to his dingy fiance'.
I didn't want him to get bored...

All I could picture was allllll 200+ cows bounding down the road into the darkness.
Because THAT'S WHAT THEY DO. (Pardon my yelling, but it's true.)

Livestock can smell an open gate, or a fence that is down.
Then...it's on like Donkey Kong.

It's as if they turn into wild animals.
They don't just wander around once they walk through the open gate..nonono..they RUN.
Idon'tknowwhy.

Obviously they aren't thinking about the future here.
Where are they going to get their feed?
Who is going to milk them?
-Important questions, people.

I can remember sitting in my room by the window, when I was 15 maybe, and seeing Tim at full murderer-after-me run, because the dairy cows were headed to whoknowswhere.

Two Christmases ago, we spent the entire day looking for 23 heifers who had gotten out via a down fence, and journeyed 2.5 MILES down the road...to a fieldwithanANGUSbull.
That was not a holly, jolly Christmas y'all.

What I'm trying to say here is, if you want to succeed in farming, and NOT have the authorities called, keep your gates closed!
At all times!

I don't care if YOU didn't open it!
Close it.

I don't care if there aren't any animals in that particular field/pen.
You close that gate!
Because as soon as you don't, a tree will fall on a fence and the animals in that field will go into the field with the open gate, then exit via the open gate and rundowntheroad!
Trust me. It happens.

I'm just trying to help you succeed.
(And this is far cheaper than therapy...)

Love,

CowsOutCowLady