Nobody Was Fessin’ Up

I didn’t realize I had a problem until I rounded the corner and saw the gate at the show barn hanging at a funny angle.

I knew for certain that I had latched the chain in the middle where the two gates hook together to keep the cattle from getting into the center area of the barn where the hay and grain is kept safe. When the cows have access to the pastures on this side of the barn, I am fanatic about checking and double checking that the gates are secure.

What I did not expect was that one or more of the critters had nudged the gate off its hinges on the far end and pried open a way into the goodies inside the middle of the barn.

I found my complainer cow and three heifers inside. Boy oh boy did they make a mess. There was cow poop on the floor, there was poop splattered on many bales that had been knocked off the stack, it was smeared on the manger side of the lock ups, it coated a wood pallet that held the grain sack. One of the heifers was head deep in the grain snarfling as fast as she could while heifer fussed around her, both of them extruding liquid poop with the effort. I believe I yelled “What the hell is going on?” but got no response, likewise with the questions about who started this mess. Everyone had the angelic look of innocence as they were escorted out of the barn.

This barn with its gates has kept all manner of calves, cows, bulls and mixed groups of cattle securely out of the middle for nearly 20 years. Not a one of them had ever knocked the gate or any of the gates off their hinges.

Once I got the troublemakers out of the barn and back into their proper area, we fixed the gate with a new hinge that keeps the gate from being lifted out of its alignment. It took the rest of the day to clean up the mess that was made.