Putting the Cows Out !

We put our cows outside into our fields or our neighbors fields every morning and every night. The other day I started thinking of all we have to do to put the cows out. A person who isn't a farmer sees the cows in the field and probably thinks : A farmer just lets the cows go down to the field. Not quite !! LOL ! A farmer knows what all goes into that ! First , we clean out the troughs of any hay . We sweep the trough . Then use the shovel to get any small pieces. Then get all the cows up that are laying down. In the hopes they will poop in the gutter ( I know we can hope ! LOL ! ) and not all over the walkway . Once the cows are up , I unhook them and my husband chases them out the door. And of course most of them poop all over the walkway ! We get all the cows out the door . Then we have a heifer who we don't trust yet to not go through the fence. We put her out in the pen . My husband gets the cows down to the field. Hooks all the fences. I start scraping the floor of all the poop . Then sprinkle lime to help dry it up. I feed the calves and the heifers hay in the barn. My husband feeds the heifers and calves in the extension. My husband and I rebed the cows with straw for the morning. I feed the cats their milk . We turn out the lights and head into the house for supper. So when you see cows in a field , think of all that goes into getting those cows into down there !