Stuck Heifer

Yesterday Jared went out to open the gate for our main cow herd so they could eat their hay! (They had been locked in the corral after we preg tested until the cows we are selling settled into their pen). After the gate was opened Jared walked through the calves to see how they were doing, it was then he noticed something amiss in the bale feeder. A heifer was stuck, and stuck quite bad. He tried to get her to back out up by getting into the feeder with her but that wasn't working, he tried to get her to bring her other leg inside to see if she'd have a better chance of becoming unstuck, but her hips were butted up against the bars on each side, she was going nowhere.  I could see Jared from our kitchen window looking at the feeder in deep contemplation but a gate was in the way of what he was contemplating!!! I called out and asked if he needed help and that's when he told me there was a stuck calf in the feeder.  I went out to see if I could help.

Before we cut a bar out we decided to see if we could pull her through by lifting her up with the tractor.  For some odd reason you can lift a cow by the neck without hurting her....??  We tried lifting her but she seriously didn't budge. The only other option was using the skill saw to cut one of the bars off and hoped she would back out.

We got the bar out and tried to get her to back out but instead she climbed all the way into the feeder...she circled inside a few times, even tried to get out through a couple of different spots, almost getting stuck again before she finally went back to where she was originally stuck and zoomed through the bigger opening.  Cows really do boggle my mind, they have no common sense at all, and they always seem to do the opposite of what you want them to do.  They go against the best intentions we have for them!! Thankfully we got her unstuck and she seemed no worse for wear, she limped a little as she walked but that cleared up after loosening up her joints by walking a bit more. 

As I was sitting waiting for Jared to get the skill saw some of the calves circled around me, one even came close enough for me to touch.  He smelled my hand and I gave his nose a nice scratch!! It was peaceful sitting there amoungst the calves and neat to see just how curious of an animal they can be. Times like these really do renew my love for them, even when only a few feet away one was stuck inside a feeder she shouldn't be able to get into...