By Jan Fielden
One day cows seem very smart…as they know the exact time and the days they are going to be fed. They know, at least a couple of them know, that if they stand and stare at either The Colonel or the barn, they will receive cow candy (cubes). They can also be not so smart…as they will fight for their place in the pecking order to get cubes and because they are fighting, miss the cubes that are being doled out and end up with none of them. Some days they are both-smart and not so smart at different times in the day. They teach these things to their calves too!
On Friday, The Colonel and our hired hand were feeding the herds and realized they would have to outsmart the cows. Well, I should say The Colonel realized that the cows would have to be outsmarted. The hired hand is new and not use to working on a ranch, so he is in training. The Middle Herd had already been fed when the truck went through the field to get to the Back Herd and feed them square bales. The Middle Herd left their round bales to stand at the gate and wait for the square bales to come to them…not realizing when the truck came back it would be empty.
The hand asked how they were going to get out of the gate without the cows getting in. The Colonel told him we have to fool them. Instead of going through the gate they are standing at, we will go through the Hay Meadow, and come out the new gate that was put in which is away from the gate the cows are covering. It worked like a charm and even as the truck came through the new gate, the cows didn’t move and eventually went back to their round bales! The Red Oak Ranch rolls on no matter what!
