It doesn't happen too often, but every once in a while part of a herd strays from home.

Sarah Gustin helps one rancher find out just who these cows belong to.

Have you seen this cow? Does she at least look familiar? Well Jerry, Bev and Jamie Zins hopes someone recognizes her-and her 16 friends who strayed into their yard last Monday.

Jamie Zins / Extra cows in yard: "I guess we are hoping that someone will figure out that their cows are missing and get a hold of us so we can get them back to them and get them out of here."

You might think that finding an owner would be easy, but these girls are a mixed bag. Some have green, some have yellow, some have blue ear tags, and some have no tag at all. Zins says the herd drifted in and soon jumped in with their herd to fill up on hay and water.

Jamie Zins / Extra cows in yard: "After our cows got done drinking they must have realized where the water was and they were standing there drinking water for twice as long as normal. And obviously eating hay and stuff so they came from a fair distance away."


The hardest part could be figuring out the brands. There are about 23,000 registered brands in the state. And with these cows some have more than two brands, some have one brand, and some have no brand at all.

Darryl Howard / NDSA Chief Brand Inspector: "If you buy livestock through a sale barn, a livestock ring. You are getting a used cow and that cow probably had the prior owners brand on it. And if the new owner, the person that bought it that particular day doesn't put his brand on, we have a tough time tracking it back to the correct owner."

One thing is for sure, Zins hope they find the right owner soon because 17 extra head aren't helping there hay supply at all.

Jamie Zins / Extra cows in yard: "It is kinda hard to monitor given the weather change and stuff an exra bale a day or an extra 1/2 a bale a day for sure."


In a year like this extra hay is hard to come by so you want to save every bale you can.

If you have any information or if you think the cows may be yours please contact Jerry and Bev Zins, the North Dakota Stockmen's Association or the Burleigh County Sheriff's Department. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list