Broken Leg Update

[Chuckie]

Good news and bad news. The broken leg healed to where she could put her entire weight on it. She could use all four legs, but was still a little weak to totally take out of the sling. The man left for work after feeding the cow and when he came home, her water had broke while in the sling and she had died. I am not sure if her water broke before the due date or not. I hated to hear it.

 

[Bret]

Thanks for the report. It was quite a study.

 

[Caustic Burno]

So he killed her slowly over a couple of weeks versus innoculating humanely with a 44. Confirms my thoughts hobbiest no real cowman would let one of his cows suffer this long and kill it so inhumanely.

 

[bwranch]

So he killed her slowly over a couple of weeks versus innoculating humanely with a 44. Confirms my thoughts hobbiest no real cowman would let one of his cows suffer this long and kill it so inhumanely.

So let me see if I understand everything now. At the first sign of health problems in your herd you should make no effort to correct the problems. Instead, if you want to be a REAL cowman, you should walk out and shoot the ill fated cow(s). If you put some real effort into saving an animal, that makes you a hobby farmer. It defies all laws of economics that I'm familiar with, but, being a hobby farmer, I have to bow to the tremendous wealth of knowledge that you obviously possess. That's how you got rich, huh? At last, it all comes clear. Caustic Burno, you have proved yourself time and again. You are a legend in your own mind and a pompous jerk.

Lee

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Although he didn't put it the way you wanted to hear it, seems like he was speaking from past experiences and that advice was the best in this particular situation.

 

[Caustic Burno]

So he killed her slowly over a couple of weeks versus innoculating humanely with a 44. Confirms my thoughts hobbiest no real cowman would let one of his cows suffer this long and kill it so inhumanely.

So let me see if I understand everything now. At the first sign of health problems in your herd you should make no effort to correct the problems. Instead, if you want to be a REAL cowman, you should walk out and shoot the ill fated cow(s). If you put some real effort into saving an animal, that makes you a hobby farmer. It defies all laws of economics that I'm familiar with, but, being a hobby farmer, I have to bow to the tremendous wealth of knowledge that you obviously possess. That's how you got rich, huh? At last, it all comes clear. Caustic Burno, you have proved yourself time and again. You are a legend in your own mind and a pompous jerk.

Lee

I might be a pompous jerk but a real cowman can look in a cows eyes and tell when its time to put them out of their misery. When you grow up and become a Cattlemen you will learn the battles you can win, those you can't you put the poor beast out of its misery in the most humane way. A true cattleman would rather take a loss than watch the animal suffer and tortured. Your right I am a Jerk but a Cattleman Jerk to you hobby boys.

 

[Bez]

He!! Caustic -

I might be a pompous jerk

I just figure you're straight up.

I also figure there are those that think everything can either be saved / should be saved - or they figure it's like Pookie the dog - save it at all cost.

That's why I keep the gun by the door - saves on the suffering and the vet bills.

As for "the look" - seen it and agree.

Bez

 

[brokenmouth]

agree. should have shot her back then. but dont kick youself just make sure to learn from it. theyre not humans dont try to humanize them. but they are creatures so dont let them suffer if the odds are against them.

 

[WVcowpatty:)]

I am really glad you posted the update about the cow. I've been scanning the boards every couple of days hoping you would give an update. Many times we never know the outcome from someone that comes to the board with a problem.

I think the fellow should be commended for all the hard work he did with this cow in trying to save it. I can only imagine how much difficulty he went thru to try to take care of the cow to the best of his ability. I would have tried to do the same things he did, giving the cow the best care I could. It sounds like the cow had a very good chance of recovering from her broken leg. Sometimes sh*t happens that there's just not an explanation for.

Now that we know the outcome of the story, as we all know, hindsight is 20-20. One of the things I read here a long time ago was something to the effect that you could do a lot to try to save or salvage a cow (or any animal for that matter), but you can only shoot them once..........I've thought about that often when dealing with problems.

 

[Bez]

WVcowpatty

Could not disagree with you more.

Thing is there are some injuries that just cannot be overcome. The methods used in this case were not adviseable. You simply do not sling a cow up AND THEN GO OFF TO WORK?!!.

Far as I am concerned it showed inexperience and foolishness. Perhaps even a bit of selfishness. "Work on that girl - keep the herd numbers up and so on."

This was certainly NOT heroic on the part of the owner.

I figure he needs a kick in the @ss.

Best thing from day one - shoot her.

Figured it from the start.

Bez

 

[Bama]

That cow could have been saved. But the vet bill would not have been worth it. A broken leg is way to expensive a problem to care for in most cows or horses for that matter. That cow would have to lay golden bricks to have paid her way. This type of business is real. From the ownset she should have been shot and put in the freezer. I know this may sound like a shock to some but sometimes if you have a incurable injury that is not setting up infection, you put em up and feed them a little grain to use as freezer meat. Cattle are not pets. If you have to put more in them than they are worth you have to cut your loses. A bullet would have been by far the least amount of suffering on the cows part. If slinging one does not show improvement in a very short while, forget it. A broken leg,don't even try.

 

[R ^ 5]

If this cow was truly as heavy berd as previouly stated.Then maybe they should have considered haveing the Vet out to do a C-section on the cow,and all of the their ill-fated effort could have been used in trying to salvage the calf.Either way IMO the cow should have been put down.

 

[Beefy]

Nothing like kicking a man when hes down is there guys?
like Willie always said, IF a toad had wings he wouldnt hop on his ass.

 

[Campground Cattle]

If I remember his original post he was adviced to put the cow out of it's misery then.

 

[Bama]

Don't mean to sound like Im kicking someone when they are down. Folks that know me know I generally say whats on my mind. I guess I do come on strong at times but I ain't never been one to sugarcoat anything. I also expect people to be strait up with me also. It saves a lot of hassle in the long run.

 

[la4angus]

If I remember his original post he was adviced to put the cow out of it's misery then.

The original post had several replys to put the cow out of her misery at the time.

 

[Craig-TX]

Original thread:

http://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic. ... torder=asc

Craig-TX

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

Could not disagree with you more.

Thing is there are some injuries that just cannot be overcome. The methods used in this case were not adviseable. You simply do not sling a cow up AND THEN GO OFF TO WORK?!!.

Far as I am concerned it showed inexperience and foolishness. Perhaps even a bit of selfishness. "Work on that girl - keep the herd numbers up and so on."

This was certainly NOT heroic on the part of the owner.

I figure he needs a kick in the @ss.

Best thing from day one - shoot her.

Figured it from the start.

Bez

I might be a pompous jerk but a real cowman can look in a cows eyes and tell when its time to put them out of their misery. When you grow up and become a Cattlemen you will learn the battles you can win, those you can't you put the poor beast out of its misery in the most humane way. A true cattleman would rather take a loss than watch the animal suffer and tortured. Your right I am a Jerk but a Cattleman Jerk to you hobby boys.

Gotta agree with Caustic and Bez on this one. If it had been a calf, I think it might have recovered from a broken leg but a cow is quite a different story. Would have been better to try to save the calf and put the cow in the freezer. Being a Cattleman is not a job for the soft hearted, sometimes you may have to make tough decisions based on what is right for your animals. If that means the shooting them because they won't recover, then that's what you need to do. Not much fun, but that's just the way it is.

 

[tapeworm]

Chuckie you have to do whatever you think is right...nobody can tell you over acomputer what is right for your cow..the cow was said to be heavy bred so it is sometime worht spending some time with one like that...guess she wasnt that "heavy" after all???? I still cant beleve you meant that the man left her ina sling and went off to work..is that for real???? What Castrated Burro tells you is right...he knows what he is talking about...you can look at a cow and tell if she wants to keep on fighting with you

 

[Chuckie]

tapeworm, I had no say so over the cow, it was not mine. But I don't criticize the man for trying. He wasn't going to be gone long, but had to leave her. He said she had been lying down all night and wanted her to stand for a few hours. He couldn't stand over her the entire time. When he got back, she was dead. It happened quickly, within a couple of hours what ever caused it. This man runs many cattle on 700 acres of land. He has his heard cut down a bit now, after culling, and is going to add more this year with young heifers. He is a kind man and has been doing this for many years. He is not a hobby rancher, and works hard. I am impressed with what all he does. I guess he would work circles around most. He is always out on the bull dozier, improving the land or working on the fences and barns. The days we can get away to visit, it means we are helping him bale hay, moving it, cutting silage, planting, vaccinating, banding etc..... And in turn he helps us. I must say I like helping him more since he has two airconditioned cab JD's. I always said a real farmer doesn't have an airconditioned cab on his tractor! (Out of jealousy)