Two heifers had a lucky escape on an Offaly farm on Tuesday morning, after the slats they were standing on gave way.
Suckler and sheep farmer Alan McDonald told the Irish Farmers Journal that he arrived out to the four-span shed on his farm in Killeigh, Co Offaly, to discover the heifers in a gaping hole in the shed.
“I had 11 heifers in the shed and two of them were stuck in the tank.
“It was a rescue effort from there on. I called my neighbour across the road and he had a 4t Hitachi digger.
"He lifted up some of the slats and we got straps around the heifers and lifted them out,” McDonald said.
Lucky escape this morning with a double slat breaking and two heifers out of 11 ending up in the tank. Thanks to some great neighbours we had a successful outcome. I meant to check them during the summer but never got around to it, lesson learned #checkyourslats pic.twitter.com/SpNNW52ruP
— Alan McDonald (@AlanMcDlleyn) November 14, 2023
The Offaly farmer has warned other farmers to check their slats as a result.
“The slats are there 30-plus years.
“The reason I shared it was to highlight that a lot of sheds were built around the same time and for farmers to check their slats,” he said.