Momma, a heifer and the two steers made a "jailbreak". |
| Baby and the rest of the cattle. |
How did they get into this part of the corral? They opened the gate.
How the cattle opened the gate is they slid the handle back then pushed the gate open. (Who says cattle are dumb?!) And the handle is not the easiest to move.
Here is how the gate looks now. I added the bungee cord. The chain isn't long enough to wrap around the post and is there for decoration. Wait a minute! Just now I realized how I can use the chain to secure the gate. I can wrap the chain around the handle and gate and then 'lock' the chain in the notch - I don't need to wrap the chain around the post.
So Tammy and I had to separate the cattle. This was easier said than done as Baby was closest to me and therefore the gate. I wanted her (and one other cattle) to remain here. I tried to herd Baby back but she would only back up a few steps at a time. So I decided to herd the others and take a chance of Baby getting to the other side of the corral with the others.
Most of the other cattle would let me get close and not move so I moved to the two steers as they are still excitable and won't let me get close unless I am feeding them hay. Tammy was standing by the gate ready to close it. So the cattle would circle back around to the back of the corral. Around and around we went.
I had Tammy move away from the gate and took my chances of closing the gate myself in time. And I did it! Baby and the one heifer lagged and I was able to get the gate closed before they could go through.
So everyone is back where they belong.
I had been noticing that Momma's udder has been slowly been shrinking. Now when I checked Momma her udder is small (empty). Tammy and I were only gone two hours but that was enough for baby to drain the udder. It has been three weeks since Baby and Momma were separated. I guess over the next few days I'll see if Momma produces more milk.
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