We have irrigated cows. If they don't have feed in front of them 24/7, they are in danger of getting out.
Just put one back in a couple hours ago,in the rain to boot.Crawled through the smooth high tensile fence where a pair of posts are rotted off it appears.Snowing now, caling for 6-10 inches.Better take them some hay here after dinner! That will put an end to grazing cornstalks.
It's been a long time,but the dairy cows never seemed to work at it.On the other hand the few angus that were raised seemed to walk the fence looking to get out.
Had one get out ther other day..can figure why....they had hay...she didn't go far from the rest of the herd...
Aside from having a calf get out, but not going anywhere, I've been lucky with this bunch of cows I have now. Most of my fence is either 4 or 5 strand barbed wire, new fence and still tight. I do have a section that we're still in the process of fencing where I have an electric fence up.
Funny story.....many years ago I had a horse that kept getting out. She would leave my place and go about a 1/2 mile to a place where I had once pastured them. One day, she got out and took the other horses with her. I was mad, and didn't have the time to fool with them, and tired of having to go get them. I had my wife drive me around to where they were, and I had a 20 gauge shotgun and a pocket full of #8 shot size shells. I got them started toward home, stayed about 75 or so yards behind them, and when they'd slow down, I'd burn their ass. Those horses never got out again at that place, maybe it was the fear of what I'd do, or maybe I fixed the fence better.
The one horse that was the ringleader, did get out later at another farm, and I had swore I'd never shoot them again. I racked the slide on that pump gun a few times, and she went looking for a place to get back in, and did.
Yeah, I know I committed cruelty towards animals, but I knew what I was doing, and knew that it was not going to hurt them, just sting them a little. I have used the birdshot method on cows, know I'm not the only one, because I was once eating some ground beef and found a piece of shot......and no, it couldn't have been one of mine.......lol.
We have a cow that has learned to jump the auto gate down by the county road. She gets out when she wants to and then jumps back in when she wants to. I hope to heck she doesn't teach that skill to any of the others.
Depends on the quality of fence.
