Well, I thought I had the most pesky animal that ever lived. After the initial “break-in” period with our new Nubian buck (see “Pass the Buck” from last October), I think I found several animals of a different species… cows!
My neighbor runs beef cattle – and his property runs in a horse shoe around mine.
I had electric fence all around the property, but slowly have been replacing it with field fencing because with power outages, increases in electricity costs and high maintenance, it just made good sense.
I got a call a couple of weeks ago from my son – “Dad, the cows are in with your bee hives and it looks like they knocked the lids off of some”.
Sure enough, when I got home, there was one that didn’t have the outer cover, and 2 that had covers slightly ajar.
I wound up replacing that section of fence on Saturday in 30 degree weather, but at least my goats and bees were safe from the cow herd.
Invasion #2 came this week…
With the most recent bout of ice storms in February, I lost power to the circuit that ran up the hill to the barn, greenhouse, and, you guessed it… THE ELECTRIC FENCE CHARGER!!
I still had one length of fence to do – and that is the one “protecting” – or, past tense, “that once was protecting” my orchard.
I went up the hill last night to dig some holes ( I have about 17 – 19 new fruit trees coming this week) and I found 3 cows in my orchard!!!
Granted, most of the trees have been in the ground since 2005, so they are probably big enough to be safe from the cows, but I still get that uneasy feeling with them tromping and stomping around up there. Ever heard the term “bull in a china shop”??? If you saw how cows “mosey about”, you’d know what that statement means!!!
Anyway, I “shooed” the cows out and then dug my 11 holes.Then, I went to town, came back and put in a post I needed to secure the fencing.
Tonight I get to run my lst stretch fo fence to keep them out.
I’ll sleep a bit better after that…
Tags: bee hives, bull in a china shop, cows, electric fence, field fence, fruit trees, orachrd, pesky cows