Cows are a herd animal. They like to stick together, so when one finds a way to get out of the pen, the rest follow. Luckily, only three calves managed to escape, so it was easier to get them all back in the pen. However, the path of destruction they left during their time of freedom looks like the whole herd got out.
Adam hauled calves to market on Tuesday afternoon, and a gate did not get chained in the sorting pen. He has three calves in a separate pen that are getting fed to be butchered, and they pushed open the gate that was not chained. Adam said it was his fault, he just forgot to chain the gate after they loaded and hauled the calves the day before.
Adam was able to get them back in pen with the help of a feed bucket. Once all of the excitement calmed down, we surveyed the scene. Adam and I were not happy with what we saw. What was once the smooth surface of our newly seeded yard was now cratered with hoof prints. Then we saw the tree. One of our newly planted Red Sunset Maples was broken in two. Yes, profanities did fly after discovering this. Once the ground thaws out we will be out in the yard with a rake trying to smooth it out. We will also be making a trip to the greenhouse to purchase a new tree.
I'm pretty sure Adam will not forget to chain the gate in the future.
Our yard now looks like the surface of the moon.
The poor Red Sunset Maple.
