We have been having a problem for several years with cows getting onto our place. In past years it was the neighbor's cows on the west side of our place. Last spring finally took it upon myself to repair about 200yds of fenceline since the d-bag that owns the cows couldn't seem to do it. This year we have a a different group on our place. the neighbor's to the east of us. They actually came in last time we were down and acted concerned. probably because they might have heard me make a comment the 300-400lb steer might make some decent eating.

It ticks us off because we have no cows. We are wildlife exempt and don't need livestock to get a tax break. Don't want them either. The cows decimate our food plots, they knock down our feeders, and are in general just a pain in the rear to deal with, and they are not even ours! When the owner's wife came in looking for them, I told her exactly where they were, and she said they had been trying to get all of them on their side of the fence so they could fix it. I call BS on that tho. How hard is it to shake a feed bag and have the dumb creatures follow them back home? They sure enough come running when we fill our feeders!

I think the owners of them like the fact that they get to graze their animals on our place, since they have much smaller parcels than we have. It just ticks me off that the d-bags can't fence their freaking animals in. It's not my responsibility to fence them out, but that seems like the only way I'm going to fix the problem, again.

I have also considered just bringing in a trailer and loadign them up, then hauling them to the sale up by my house. I figure if we're feeding the things and paying to repair what they destroy, we might as well get what little they'd bring at the sale.

Any advice? The sheriff, whom I've talked to in town, doesn't act too concerned. There again, we're "outsiders", and the cattle owners live there. Yes, we own our land, it's not a lease.

Fix the fence and send them a bill for the repairs and cost of damage to your property.

Next time around shoot one a day till there're all gone.

I would talk to an attorney and get some clear advice. Didn't something like this occur in the panhandle and a lot of buffalo got shot?

You sound like a real tool, go back to Dallas....i

where did that come from???

Beef....its whats for dinner!

Dont load them up and take them to sell, that is serious felony in Texas. Invest in the fence, tell the neighbor, then you can shoot them if they are on your property, but make sure to file a police report first , so it will be on file and get a copy of it!!!!!!

Good fences make for good neighbors

The fences are as much your responsibility as your neighbor's. You can ask them to cover half the expense of the fence repairs, but good luck with it if you didn't work it out with them in advance.

Pen the cows in corner of your place and call the owner to come get them. Tell the property owner next time it occurs, you will pursue recovering your expenses in small claims (JP court). It can be nearly impossible to enforce a civil judgment from small claims court, but at least they will see that you are serious.

However you decide to handle it, do NOT take them to the auction barn. That is theft of livestock, a felony. Also do NOT turn them out into the road where they will endanger motorists. Collecting Estray livestock in the roadway is technically the responsibility of the sheriff, but if you turn them out intentionally, that's a good way to get somebody hurt, and get yourself in a heap of trouble.

maybe its the neighbor with the cows?

You'll need to look into it as every county is different. Some counties it's the cattle owners responsibility to fence the animals in. Other counties it's your responsibility to fence them out. I think it's obvious your having trouble dealing with these neighbors. The advise above was very good though. Don't go to the sale with them or you'll end up in jail or with a hefty fine. If you turn them loose and someone is killed or injured it's going to fall on your shoulders also.

I know this is very aggravating. The first thing I'd do is check on the fencing laws then go from there. You may also want to get ahold of the cattleman Assn and see what advice or assistance they can give you. They will not be happy with the situation and help you in any way possible. Good luck!

It doesn't take much to string a couple of hot wires along the fence.Once a cow gets a taste of touching an electric fence they usually stay away.

We have the same problem, but the large cattle operation to the south ALWAYS responds ASAP when we notify him.

On the other hand the neighboring smaller acerage places "what our cows are out?" is getting old; they only own 20 head and they came over on our place for a month of free grazing.

We cut hay on the property so the cows are eating our revenue...

Long story short it comes down to ...

Are fences made to keep cattle in or out!

The cost of fencing is high as with the recent fires alot of Bois Darc fence posts burned and fences are down.

I would make the offer to assist in fence building, and take PLENTY of pictures of busted feeders to show the neighbors.

The best one I ever had was a game camera pic of several branded cows eating from a nocked over feeder, told the cattle owner that if it happened again I was sending bills for the feeders and the lost hay revenue.


Fences started getting patched QUICK!

We had problems with some neighbors cattle. Finaly I chased them out back acros the road into their pasture and fixed the neighbors fence, then I fixed the spots on ours and havent had trouble sence.

We are like yal, have wildlife exemption, no cattle and dont want any. But our place is like the garden of Eden to the cattle accross the fence as their pastures are always overstocked and overgrazed. Not much fences can do in an instance like that, you fix them cows break them and the cycle starts again.

matt

Don't shoot them! That will cause a huge headache for you. Call the owner and sheriff each and every time they are on your place.
Document your calls, date & time. They will get tired of you calling.

Once you have the fence fixed run a hot wire around your border if you can afford it. This drought has them searching everywhere for food.

I'm fixing fences every week down here.

Call the county Sheriff. It's against the law for his cattle to run "at large". He could receive a citation for each and every cow on your property.

Take pics of the cows and especially ear tags, brands, ear notches or other means of identifying. Use this for evidence. Provide copies to the Sheriff's Office or Animal Control.

Determine as near as possible how long the cows have been on your property. Then submit a bill to the owner for the "free grazing rights" that he's enjoyed as well as any damage the cows have done.

If he fails to remove the cows after a period of time the sheriff can impound the cows and even sell them at auction.

I had a similar problem with a neighbor and his goats. I repaired the fence while they were in my pasture then called the owner to come get 'em. When he arrived I gave him a bill and explained that he could retrieve them once the bill was paid. Never had another problem out of that neighbor.

yea i have cows and still have that problem... people who lease land are not going to help you with the fence... but you can charge them for the damage to your stuff and for the grass that they eat per however many days they are there. but is you really want to get there attention there is two ways. call them and let them know they are on your place, and then go varment hunting a few nights later and shoot one of them. then the next day call call them and tell them that you mistaked one of the cows for a pig or somethimg. they will usually come a runnin. and if they present you with a bill for the cow than do the same for the grass that they have eaten...and in this drought grass is really really high. second if that doesnt work it is not against the law to load them up and carry them to the sale, as long as you put the amount of money that you receive in a separate account marked in trust to who ever owns said cattle..then you can put your bill for grass etc in with that. since you are the one who has to get the money out of the back and give to whoever owns cows you can the give the bill and take your cash and the give them there all on camera at the bank. oh and dont call them and tell them you sold them they will figure it out and will be asking around. this works i have done it many times.. at the sale be sure to tell them that you dont know whos cows they are and are going to put the check in trust till someone come for the claim????

hoghunta

p.s shooten one is more fun and usually does the trick.. you could sell wild cow hunts for 500 dollars till they were all gone

Seriously, by the posts made on this topic, there needs to be some serious reading of Texas trespass laws before ya'll start crossing fences or have animals that like greener pastures.

i havent had a problem yet and havent read a thing

oh and my cows stay in my fence and if someone calls me a says that our bulls were fighting and now my caws are on them i go get them within the hour, and fix the fence and offer for any damages...just to clear that up on my part.

I've had cows that jumped fences and you couldn't keep them in.

They ended up being hauled to the stock yards.

We ran cattle near a highway and that was one thing you didn't need was a cow that liked to jump fences.

I have had this problem as well. About 20 cows jumped our back fence last year twice.

Lot's of bad advice. All you can do is catch the cows and haul them to your county pens. In our county it is the rodeo grounds. The sherriff will charge the owner for feed.

You cannot do anything to those animals, you will be fined or go to jail. If you have to pay a cowboy to round them up you may be able to be reimbursed, but you may have to go to small claims court.

Good fences make good neighbors.

Some sane advise here. After calming down a bit I suppose I'll fix the dang fence on his side too. I think I'll hang some signs on the fence where I fix it saying something derogatory but respectful. In fact, they will go up all the way around the property. I know he'll see them since his feeder and deer stand is within about 30yds of the fence line.

I know Texas is a cattle state, and I appreciate the fact that it is one thing that made this state what it is today. I am proud of my heritage! But it urks me a bit that someone else's cows can trespass on our place, tear up hundreds to thousands of dollars worth of stuff, and my only recourse is small claims court (civil suit). But if I harm one or sell it to get my money back it's a felony. Something just not inherently right about that. If it tears up my stuff, I feed it, and I water it, I would consider it more mine than anyone else's. But I have an uncanny knack to look at things fairly. I know, the world just doesn't see things the same way.

We have had and still having problems with our neighbors too. Take pics of the cows and brands. Talk with the sheriff and stay on top of it.

We even had a pic of our neighbor on horse back looking for them