To those readers that have told us "You never write about the bad things that happen. Your lives can't be happy all the time."
Yesterday morning we woke to 2 1/2" of rainfall.
There has been rain off and on over the past few weeks.
The ponds are full!
This is a good thing!
We are singing praises!
Around about 3pm, Flower Boy got a call.
Dogs have ran the fancy heifers through the fence!
(No, not our dogs.)
Flower Boy relays the infomation to me.
I hang up the phone and head home.
Flower Boy retrieves the heifers almost a mile from their pasture.
All of our cattle are "feed truck broke".
This means they will follow the feed truck anywhere it goes.
They know where their "cake" comes from.
We get the heifers back in their pasture and the fence fixing commenced.
The dogs gathered the heifers in a corner between the pond and the fence.
Remember the rainfall and the ponds being full...
The cattle broke through a small section of fence and swam the pond to escape the dogs.
To no avail, the dogs met the cattle in the land owners yard.
They proceeded to run the heifers through the yard and gathered them again on the land owners front porch!
Thankfully, the land owner was home, ran off the dogs and called Flower Boy.
As of last evening, the heifers were settled down and seemed in good health.
We will keep a close eye on them, as we always do, over the next few days.
Adrenaline and stress can mask injuries, just as it does in humans.
The land owner made a clear identification of the dogs.
The dogs owner claims it was not his dogs.
"His dogs have been chained up and always are."
We have seen said dogs running our cattle before and a message was relayed to said owner.
I don't know the law in other states, but in Oklahoma, a rancher has a right to protect his livestock.
No rancher wants to kill another person's animal or dog, but when the dog is chasing, stalking and harming your livestock, you have to do what has to be done.
If the dogs are caught in the pastures, with the cattle, they will be disposed of.
Dogs are pack animals, descendants of wolfs.
Wolfs are predators.
They hunt.
Sadly, if the dogs that ran our girls through the fence aren't kept penned up, they will return and hunt.
Now, again, remember the 2 1/2" rainfall...
The bulls need a hay bale.
With all the rain, Flower Boy didn't think the truck could get in the lot with the hay bale.
The feed truck is a heavy duty truck.
With the weight of the bale bed and the cake feeder full, this makes the feed truck even heavier.
He decided to use the tractor.
Well....
It's a bit muddy
AND
The tractor got stuck.
Like really stuck!
No problem!
Just pull the truck around and attempt to pull out the tractor.
Well...
It's a bit muddy
AND
The truck got stuck!
Really Stuck!
Go get the white truck...
Whitey is a truck I have had for years.
I love that old truck!
She is a good truck and very dependable.
Hook a chain to Whitey and then to the feed truck.
I get in the feed truck.
Flower Boy gets in Whitey.
He backs up, tells me he is going to jerk the chain, I hold on to the steering wheel, and SNAP!
The chain breaks!
It pops back over the hood of the feed truck and leaves a nasty dent!
(sorry no photo)
Place a call to Drewman...
We might need some help.
Drewman heads home from college.
(What are we going to do when he leaves for good?)
I can't watch!
I go into the house and start supper.
Another chain is hooked to Drewman's truck and to the feed truck.
The next thing I see, out the kitchen window, is Drewman shaking his head.
Lets just say it was a terrible horrible no good really bad day!
At the end of the day, all the cattle were accounted for, no one was hurt, and I got flowers!
Today is a new day!
The tractor and feed truck are still stuck.
Drewman's bumper has been replaced.
Flower Boy and I got to ride into work together and watch the sunrise.
No matter how bad your day might seem, don't let it get you down.
There is always a positive!
XOXO,
Rancher Girl
