amysflock
Loving the herd life
My hubby left yesterday morning while I was at work for a week-long fishing trip at the coast, leaving me to hold down the fort, care for the animals, etc. (which I do by myself most of the time anyway, ha!).
Last night I was enjoying my dinner in front of the boob toob and looked out back to see Sheila staring into the "off-limits" part of our pasture, over the double hot wire. She would graze some, then look up and over there with quite a bit of interest, then back to grazing. Then my American Foxhound, Honey, who's usually running back and forth watching something, ran to the corner of our backyard (adjacent to that pasture), stared, then turned and looked right at me through the living room window with a worried look on her face.
That was enough to make me wonder where Bridgit, our 2-year old heifer, was, since I couldn't see her.
Yep, she was in the "off-limits" part of the pasture, going to town on a previously untouched apple tree! She must have ducked her head between the hot wires and then stepped through. Sheila's too big to do the same.
I went out with the comb and she was unmoved, so I gathered a tiny bit of grain in a bucket, plus the halter rope, and tried again. She wanted to run around the tree at the sight of the halter, but the bucket was enough enticement. I wasn't able to get the halter on her nose, but did get it around her horns and was able to lead her to the "gate" part of the hotwires (where those springy connector things are - yes, I had unplugged the fencer beforehand).
Sheila came charging over at the sight of Bridgit struggling against the rope, but I chased her off, got Bridgit through the "gate," ran Sheila off a couple more times, got the halter off Bridgit and ran her off, and got the fence put back together without either girl going back through.
It turns out our fence isn't working...at all. The ground wire is hot, and the others aren't. I walked the fence line and did find where a corner connection had broken, so I fixed that and restrung that wire, but there were no other obvious problems I could see. We think we need to redo the ground (hubby took a shortcut and didn't put in as many grounds as were suggested, and with our rocky soil, we probably need even more than suggested). The girls are locked in the paddock until hubby comes home and fixes the fence.
My lessons are:
1) If they're going to do it (insert anything naughty), they'll wait until I'm alone
2) If the dog looks worried, go check it out...she doesn't cry wolf often
3) When in doubt, try the grain
Last night I was enjoying my dinner in front of the boob toob and looked out back to see Sheila staring into the "off-limits" part of our pasture, over the double hot wire. She would graze some, then look up and over there with quite a bit of interest, then back to grazing. Then my American Foxhound, Honey, who's usually running back and forth watching something, ran to the corner of our backyard (adjacent to that pasture), stared, then turned and looked right at me through the living room window with a worried look on her face.
That was enough to make me wonder where Bridgit, our 2-year old heifer, was, since I couldn't see her.
Yep, she was in the "off-limits" part of the pasture, going to town on a previously untouched apple tree! She must have ducked her head between the hot wires and then stepped through. Sheila's too big to do the same.
I went out with the comb and she was unmoved, so I gathered a tiny bit of grain in a bucket, plus the halter rope, and tried again. She wanted to run around the tree at the sight of the halter, but the bucket was enough enticement. I wasn't able to get the halter on her nose, but did get it around her horns and was able to lead her to the "gate" part of the hotwires (where those springy connector things are - yes, I had unplugged the fencer beforehand).
Sheila came charging over at the sight of Bridgit struggling against the rope, but I chased her off, got Bridgit through the "gate," ran Sheila off a couple more times, got the halter off Bridgit and ran her off, and got the fence put back together without either girl going back through.
It turns out our fence isn't working...at all. The ground wire is hot, and the others aren't. I walked the fence line and did find where a corner connection had broken, so I fixed that and restrung that wire, but there were no other obvious problems I could see. We think we need to redo the ground (hubby took a shortcut and didn't put in as many grounds as were suggested, and with our rocky soil, we probably need even more than suggested). The girls are locked in the paddock until hubby comes home and fixes the fence.
My lessons are:
1) If they're going to do it (insert anything naughty), they'll wait until I'm alone
2) If the dog looks worried, go check it out...she doesn't cry wolf often
3) When in doubt, try the grain