Cattle break-in

After spending a few hours uptown this afternoon, I came home to find most of the cattle in the south corral.   It appears a cow figured out how to slide the lever on the gate by the water trough.

I didn't have the chain positioned around the lever to prevent the slide.   The handle is rusty, and the bar slides into a hole in the wood posts.  So the handle does not slide easily.  It is hard to slide. That is why I didn't position the chain around the lever.  Now the chain is positioned.

The cattle have hay in their feeder in the main corral.  But they wanted to eat the hay in the feeder in the south corral.  Something new, you know.

I had to herd the cattle out of the south corral.  Mama cow and her calf were already out in the main corral, and I decided to leave her out there and not herd her back into the south corral.  For a while now her calf wanted to be with, and play with, the other calves, and he was happy.   Mama wasn't fighting any other cows over her calf.  I'll keep an eye that she behaves.

When herding the cows and calves out of the south corral I thought I had made sure not to herd the bull out.   An hour or so later when I walked by the south corral I saw it was a heifer in the south corral, not Haynes the bull.  They look the same, mostly.    The bull was close to Little Beulah.  Uh, oh.     I herded the bull into the south corral and the heifer out of it.  I had an extra gate open and before I could close it Little Beulah ran into the south corral to be with the bull.  I had to quickly herd her out.  Little Beulah wanted to be with the bull.  In case they already had some "action" I now have to keep track in case she gives birth on February 17 next year.