Would this be considered a free Heifer?

basic info on animals and trespass, and fence laws,

http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplo...con/g00453.htm

http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplo...con/g00810.htm

http://www.moga.mo.gov/STATUTES/STATUTES.HTM

note: the length of information not reasonable to past on board,

Thanks for all the replies, she is still there, we did call the owner yesterday and left a message, I really don't want to put the neighbors cow in our freezer and then start a neighbor war, as they are really very nice people and have lived there all their life, where, we are really considered the outsiders, so I guess I will just let my horses out there, and if they chase her around, so be it. Maybe once he sees my Mare that will chase anything with 4 legs that is not a horse, harrassing his cow, he may change his mind and come get it!!!!

***really very nice people***

really inconsiderate jerks is more like it, but hey, you gotta live there.

If you allow people to walk all over you , they will. And you will get a reputation as such with the local yokals.

what makes you think a cow and a horse dont get along in the same pasture

Your horses might run her around a bit, but I don't think they are going to run her to death. The cow will figure it out and she'll stay out of the horses way.

As far as the nieghbor is concerned I'd give it a day or so then call again. It's quite possible that something is going on, and one cow that is obviously in safe hands doesn't rate too high on the priority list at the moment.

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My faith keeps me here until my purpose is fulfilled. Good choices & bad I learn from everything! I am still beautiful and messy and a work in progress!

...if the heifer gets really stressed by being chased, I guarantee you, it will jump back over or thru the fence to get away... I originally thought the heifer was molesting your horses. If it's the other way around, can't fathom the problem.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

A cowy horse may very well chase that cow until the cow drops.

Does the neighbor have horses or a trailer to take the cow home with? It's not like you can throw a halter on your average cow and lead her home, unless she's actually broke to lead. It takes either getting her into a trailer, or having a couple of horses and riders to herd her with, or one good solid horse to physically drag her home. He may need to get someone out to move her.

If you have horses and a decent seat, can you offer to meet him and HELP move the cow?

Leva

No, but if you want one, all you have to do is go to Hawaii:

Public Hunt for Trespass Cattle

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"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." (Anais Nin)

We have horses that will run cows to death. They split mamas and calves and run them in circles. Scary to watch, it's like the horses are talking to each other and know exactly what they are doing.

Do you have cattle panels you can set up in a circle and a big feed bucket? If you can get her to come inside the panels to eat the sweetfeed you can close the open panel. It won't take long (few days) for her to discover what feed is even if she has only been grass fed, especially this time of year. From there it's easy to back a trailer up and load her. If you don't have any sweetfeed you can throw her some hay inside the panels. This is the way my wheel-chair bound husband and two teen-age sons load our herd.

You have handled it well so far. Taking his cow back to him is above and beyond what you should have to do, but I bet he will remember your kindness for a long time and you will reap those benefits for years to come.

If you eat the cow you will lose his friendship forever. And he will tell everyone in town what you did. He is the established one; you are the newcomer. Doesn't matter how the cow got in your field or how long it was there. YOU will be the bad guy!

Let us know how it turns out,
SBJ

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The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring. ~Bern Williams

I have no way of getting the cow, none of my horses are really broke to ride well enough for that, I would end up in the hospital!!!!! We are hoping that maybe, just maybe she will wonder closer to the house when she gets hungry, as its suppose to snow, and I will not waste my hay feeding a cow that is not mine!!! But right now, she is on the far side of the pasture, DH and me tried to herd her back yesterday closer to the house, but she is a wild one, and runs right back to the herd on the other side of the fence, hopefully the owner will get to worring about her through winter and go get her, although he has no horses to herd with, but he has a big family that can help!!!!!

Having been on the other side of that fence recently when my newly purchased bull took off to my neighbor's herd and then my newly purchased red angus w/ heifer at her side did the same thing, I am a bit dissappointed in the responses. I however did call and speak with him on several ocassions and waited patiently for him to round up his herd when he had calves ready to go to the sale barn. I offered to go round up my own but he knew how green I am. My other neighbors also offered to go round them up. I appreciated his patience and his willingness not only to uderstand but to tolerate in a friendly manner and go beyond his duty to actually bring them all back the day he rounded up his own calves to go to market. My bull was over there for two months. Fact is that my Jersey, with her two adopted heifers at her side, walked over to his pasture to be bred by him and then came back home with calves in tow- so at one point all of my cows were at his place - his very large place. So my response is to call him again and politely explain your need to remove his heifer and offer to help. Maybe he doesn't understand your urgency. It may not be the letter of the law - the law sounds like it has no compassion - but it would help keep neighborly relations between you and that goes a lot further down the road than the letter of the law.

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

Hi blazing buns,
You don't need horses to round up the cow. Animals are driven by their stomachs and if you feed them they will soon be coming up to you on their own. Especially now that it's winter and there's less food to be found. That's why I mentioned my husband and kids. Hubby is a quad and the kids are only 17 and 16. If they can do it anyone can.

Just put out a small bucketfull of feed or a couple of sections of hay from a square bale ($3.00 around here for the whole bale) daily for a few days. It doesn't take much, and she will find it on her own. Just make sure she sees you put it there. It only takes our new cows 2 or 3 days before they associate us with food and they decide they would rather stay in the pen and eat than run away. Then it's just a matter of walking over to the cattle panels and pulling the open one closed.

We have a neighbor who thinks the way to round up cows is to get several pick up trucks and shotguns and run the herd around shooting the guns off until they go where he wants them. Takes him all afternoon to round up a medium sized herd. He thinks spooking them and chasing them ragged is the way to go. ??? He can't understand how we can round up our 20 or so cows in less than 30 minutes. Why are ours so tame and his so crazy? Heck, ours come TO us. His run FROM him. Gee, I wonder why?

You don't have to catch his cow. But if you want your pasture back soon, and you want to make a good impression on your neighbor and community, it wouldn't take much on your part. You would be a hero instead of a villain. Who wants to be a villain?

He may be slow responding because he thinks he can't catch the cow either, but it's not that hard if you use your noggin. The trick is not to spook her. If nothing else just close her up in the panels and call and tell him she is ready to be loaded. No sweat.

Good luck whatever you choose to do,
SBJ

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The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring. ~Bern Williams