Post by Lannie on Jan 18, 2009 13:09:22 GMT -5
That's what Rich called Horus yesterday. Cow-smart. LOL!
Horus has been begging for his treats the last few days, and stands at the gate into the feed area waiting for me to bring them out to him. Apparently yesterday morning, he didn't feel he'd had enough, so he went in after some more himself. Luckily he didn't make it, but the damage was considerable.
This was while I was in milking Bandit in the cow barn, after I had fed the horses. I heard a long whinny while I was milking, but I assumed it was Aiesha either wanting out of her stall, or flirting with Horus. Then the chickens all started clucking and quacking, and I thought maybe someone had laid an egg (you know how everyone joins in the cluck-fest when that happens), but it went on and on, and was very loud. I was wishing Rich had been out there so I could have sent him to see what was going on, but I was by myself, and it soon quieted down in the horse barn, so I thought everything was OK.
After I was done milking, I fed Bandit and Cricket and turned Bandit loose, then went back over to the horse barn to see if anybody had laid an egg in the hay feeder(s), and discovered the gate to the feed area practically destroyed. The bottom board was broken in two and all the wires that had been fastened to it (field fencing again) were pushed in at a 90 degree angle. Evidently Horus had gotten down ON HIS KNEES to try to get under the gate! In the process he broke the board and bent all the wires inward. Why he didn't shred himself pulling back out, I don't know, because the ends of those wires are sharp. I know it was him because he had muddy front knees and his whole left side was wet and dirty from lying on the floor.
Apparently the whinny was from him, when he got under there and got stuck, and all the chicken clucking was their distress that he was (I assume) flailing around trying to free himself. In pulling back out, he tugged what was left of the gate hard enough to straighten out the eye-bolt that the latch fit into. It wasn't a big heavy-duty one, but still... that took a lot of force. I checked him over head to toe and didn't find a scratch on him anywhere. I don't know how he could have done that much damage and not hurt himself!
As soon as Rich got up, I told him he needed to make a new (better) gate, so he did. That's when he said Horus was not just smart, but "cow-smart." The new gate goes almost all the way to the foor (so Horus can't get his silly self under there again), is made of 2x4s this time with no field fencing, and has a big heavy-duty latch on it. Just as a precaution, I've been chaining the gate shut after I latch it. I have an old chain dog leash that I never use, so I give it a couple of wraps around the post and the end of the gate and hook it to itself.
The old gate that was on there has withstood all of our horses for the last 5 years. But Horus is smarter than any of them. He wanted in and figured he'd just crawl under the gate. I've never seen such a thing! Hopefully, the feed area is now Horus-proof! LOL!
~Lannie
Horus has been begging for his treats the last few days, and stands at the gate into the feed area waiting for me to bring them out to him. Apparently yesterday morning, he didn't feel he'd had enough, so he went in after some more himself. Luckily he didn't make it, but the damage was considerable.
This was while I was in milking Bandit in the cow barn, after I had fed the horses. I heard a long whinny while I was milking, but I assumed it was Aiesha either wanting out of her stall, or flirting with Horus. Then the chickens all started clucking and quacking, and I thought maybe someone had laid an egg (you know how everyone joins in the cluck-fest when that happens), but it went on and on, and was very loud. I was wishing Rich had been out there so I could have sent him to see what was going on, but I was by myself, and it soon quieted down in the horse barn, so I thought everything was OK.
After I was done milking, I fed Bandit and Cricket and turned Bandit loose, then went back over to the horse barn to see if anybody had laid an egg in the hay feeder(s), and discovered the gate to the feed area practically destroyed. The bottom board was broken in two and all the wires that had been fastened to it (field fencing again) were pushed in at a 90 degree angle. Evidently Horus had gotten down ON HIS KNEES to try to get under the gate! In the process he broke the board and bent all the wires inward. Why he didn't shred himself pulling back out, I don't know, because the ends of those wires are sharp. I know it was him because he had muddy front knees and his whole left side was wet and dirty from lying on the floor.
Apparently the whinny was from him, when he got under there and got stuck, and all the chicken clucking was their distress that he was (I assume) flailing around trying to free himself. In pulling back out, he tugged what was left of the gate hard enough to straighten out the eye-bolt that the latch fit into. It wasn't a big heavy-duty one, but still... that took a lot of force. I checked him over head to toe and didn't find a scratch on him anywhere. I don't know how he could have done that much damage and not hurt himself!
As soon as Rich got up, I told him he needed to make a new (better) gate, so he did. That's when he said Horus was not just smart, but "cow-smart." The new gate goes almost all the way to the foor (so Horus can't get his silly self under there again), is made of 2x4s this time with no field fencing, and has a big heavy-duty latch on it. Just as a precaution, I've been chaining the gate shut after I latch it. I have an old chain dog leash that I never use, so I give it a couple of wraps around the post and the end of the gate and hook it to itself.
The old gate that was on there has withstood all of our horses for the last 5 years. But Horus is smarter than any of them. He wanted in and figured he'd just crawl under the gate. I've never seen such a thing! Hopefully, the feed area is now Horus-proof! LOL!
~Lannie
He'd go strutting out there with his tail in the air, nostrils flared, ears up, and challenge whatever it was that was spooking the others. He was quite a guy.
