pen 12

 if you have ever spent any time in a feedlot you know that for some unexplained reason cattle will eat dirt. no one has ever told me for sure why. some vets say it is a shortage of minerals in their diet, others say they just don't know, but it don't seem to hurt them. now if you as a feedlot manager don't keep up with this  little thing it will get out of hand. like big time. when at t and c cattle in Maricopa the steers in pen 12 had eaten their selves a hole that was a good 15 feet deep and 10 feet wide. this hole was just inside the gate leaving a 4 foot path around it to the gate. it was precarious to say the least. those of us who had to check that pen dailey was a little spooked by it. we had complained but no repairs were in site. as I was usualy riding a colt while checking pens it was plum spooky trying to maneuver a colt thru the gate and not fall in that hole! but management always had a different chore for the tractor driver.  that fall it started raining and didn't let up for 3 weeks. that old feedlot was flat as a fritter  with no where for the water to run off. so it stood and pooled and got really soupy and nasty. a fat steer would wade to the feed trough and a wave of goop would  rush before him and slop into the feed trough. right in the middle of the whole deal one of the cowboys quit and left. we were short handed as it was so the boss saddled up to check pens. when he got to pen 12 he didn't even realize that big hole was full to the level with water and soup. yep, he rode right off in it. his ole pony went to the bottom and came up with him coated in goop and gunk. next day a dump truck arrived and filled that hole with fresh dirt. funny how management can get things done.