Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Can I Fool the Cows?

Mel went to the funeral of a good friend's wife in Yukon early Monday morning.  I stayed home to do the chores and deliver meals to the shut-ins.  To make it easy for me to feed, my sweet thoughtful hubby put the cubes in the troughs the night before so all I had to do was open the gate to let the cows in to eat.
Time to feed:   I drove the pick-up close to the gate, got out, and opened the gate to let the cows come in.  They stood there and looked at me.  Okay, maybe if I shake the cubes around in the troughs so they will know feed is there that would convince them cubes are in the troughs.  Still, they stood and looked at me.  Another thought - maybe since I was not the regular feeder for them, if I left, they would come in to eat.  I got in the pick-up, drove to the barn, fed the cats and horses.  I glanced to see if the cows were eating.  No!  They were still standing there and bawling this time.  What to do next?  Let's see -  I had 2 buckets in the back of the pick-up with cubes for the 7 heifers at the annex.   If I go back to the troughs with the buckets, shake the buckets so they hear the cubes rattle inside and then pretend to pour the cubes in the troughs, maybe just maybe, they will believe they have feed in the troughs.  This is what I did.  Sure enough after I performed my "little trick" and left the pen,  they hustled in to eat. 
Nothing quite like trying to "fool a cow"! 
My dear hubby had a good laugh when I told him the story.

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