Broken Leg

[Chuckie]

A friend had a cow heavy with calf to break her leg. She is down at the moment, and a cast was put on her leg. She has been down since Sunday, but seems to be moving around on the ground. Tomorrow they are going to put some hip screws in and get her up on her feet. Has anyone ever had any luck with this method?

 

[Vicky the vet]

Generally, cows with broken legs don't make it, since the materials used are weaker than the bone which broke, so they break too, but it would depend on where the break occurred. The size of titanium screw they could get into a hip is fair sized but why are they putting one there? Is the hip dislocated?

 

[SF]

I've never had one with a broken leg make it. I personally think it is much more humane to euthanize them.

Just my 2 cents worth. Good luck with whatever you decide do.

 

[sidney411]

just out of curiosity..... do you know how she broke her leg?

 

[Chuckie]

I think he is going to try and see if he can get her up and go from there. Her leg is broke between the fetlock and the knee. His wife is an RN and put the cast on the cow and it is holding it in place. The hip is not dislocated. I am not exactly sure why the hip screws are being used. I guess I should have asked more questions. Just add some words of wisdom here since he is trying to save her. They will not let her go long if she fights this treatment. He said he wanted to give her a chance. She must be a nice cow, otherwise, this man would not have any problem putting her down. I have a feeling they are going to try to sling her with the tractor.

 

[Chuckie]

I will not be able to get in touch with him until after lunch today but I will find out how she did break it. It makes me hurt thinking about it.

 

[dun]

I think what's being referred to as "hip screws" are the clamps that hook under/over the hip bones for lifting them up.

dun

 

[Chuckie]

Dun, you probably are right.

 

[dun]

Hip jack/hip lift/ hip ?

dun

 

[Chuckie]

That's it. I called him back to tell him that the hip lift didn't come in and I would get on the phone to see what else I could do. I thought he said it was between her knee and fetlock. But he said it was her back cannon leg between the hock and ankle. He isn't sure how she broke it. He said she was still scooting around on the ground. I will have to round up a hip lift now. I hope she does OK. Sounds like she isn't going to give up yet so he is going to try to get her back on her feet.

 

[dun]

Check with a local dairy. I don;t know of a single one that doesn;t have a hipjack laying around somewhere

dun

 

[Chuckie]

He found one to borrow from a dairy man until his came in Friday. Dun, there aren't that many dairies around here anymore. This gentleman had a dairy, but didn't want to sell any of his equipment. There are only two operating dairies around here that I know of. So many farm houses used to have several dairy cattle and the block dairy barns still stand.

 

[dun]

It's the same around here. 10 years ago there were probably 200 dairys in this county, now maybe 20-25. I just generally think of dairys as a first source of seldom used equipment. But a lot of that is because I've worked with so many of these dairymen that I know I can borrow whatever I need. And if one doesn't have it, another one will.

dun

 

[sidney411]

That thing looks like it would be painful for the cow. How would you lift the front end of the cow using one of those?

 

[certherfbeef]

That thing looks like it would be painful for the cow. How would you lift the front end of the cow using one of those?

You don't Sid. It usually has padding on the parts the hook to the hips. I guess I don't know if the padding if factory or farmer added out of necessity and ease on the cow. You hook them on the cow's hip bones crank it snug and hook a chain to the top of it and to a loader. Then lift slowly. We used mainly for cows that split in the barnyard or the one that pinched a nerve during calving.

 

[Chuckie]

The loops go over the hip bones and then crank the handles till the jaws put enough pressure to lift up on the cow. In this case, they are going to use a tractor lift. If the back end can be lifted, I am pretty sure that the front end will follow unless the cow is too far gone. In this case, she is still pulling herself around on the ground. It sounds like if she will be able to stand.

 

[certherfbeef]

And just to clarify, you don't pick the hind end clear up off the ground. Just enough to get the pressure off the injury. And yes, the front end will follow if the cow is in good sorts yet.

 

[Campground Cattle]

Innoculate with a 45-70 or 44 and put her out of her misery.Part of being in the cow biz you lose some.

 

[tapeworm]

We always called em hook lifts but I have heard em called hip lifts too. Sure aren't much good for a broken front leg though....you can put a cow in a world of hurt before she quits clawing to stand on it. ;-) Dont see as many of those anyway seems like for some reason.
Do like certherfbeef says though. Dont know why they dont come padded but they should. We use pipe insulation and duct tape...wrap it as tight as you can so it'll still fit over both hooks good. If you dont pad it you'll have bruising you can see from a mile away....you'll still have some swelling and bruising anyway but the hook lifts are the best choice for any cows with trouble on the back end...lots better than slings for heavy bred cows.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Innoculate with a 45-70 or 44 and put her out of her misery.Part of being in the cow biz you lose some.

Caliber of innoculant may vary, but this is some of the best advice I've heard yet. We just have to take the good with the bad.