Broken Nose

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Ryan

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I was running in a group of heifers this morning and they are in pipe pens and all the alleys are made of pipe. These heifers are 6 or so months old. They don't like getting run into the tie up area much yet, and one heifer turned and was making a lap in the pen and ran full blast into the pipe fence, which wasn't too forgiving. Now she is breathing hard, and loud. It doesn't sound too bad, but obviously more than she normally would on a hot day after running a couple laps around the pen. And it is obvious that she broke her nose right in the middle about half way between her nostrils and her eyes. Its bent in some on top and moves some with each breath. She did have a little blood come out of her nose, but that has stopped.

Has anyone had any experience with this before? Should I wait for a few days or take her to the vet immediately? Do you think she will be okay in the long run or would I be better just hauling her off? I dont want to make any rushed decisions, because she is MY personal heifer, my only heifer as a matter of fact, probably my best one yet. She does not belong to the owner of the ranch like the other heifers.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ryan
 
I would probably have the vet check her out before I made any rash decisions. Hopefully she'll be ok. Never had this happen before. Good luck with her, let us know how it turns out with her.
 
I am just going to wait and see how she is doing in a day or two. I am not sure how much a vet could do, I mean I know its broken. I just don't want to have to pay for the visit or any surgery or whatever. I'd just as soon take her to the sale barn.

We did have a just weaned bull do the same thing once, his was crooked but he never breathed hard or anything... so its a little different situation.

Ryan
 
Whoa thats ruff. I'd hang on to her and see what happens. I'm like you. I don't know what the vet can do for that. I've seen some pretty bad injurys go away in time.
 
Had one do that at AI time, and busted her bottom jaw. UGLY. It was just hanging open, tounge was bit almost off. She made a few steaks. If it isnt bleeding, I'd see how she does. Could that interfere with chewing so she'll lose condition?
 
Ryan":2bfyu0qm said:
I am just going to wait and see how she is doing in a day or two. I am not sure how much a vet could do, I mean I know its broken. I just don't want to have to pay for the visit or any surgery or whatever. I'd just as soon take her to the sale barn.

We did have a just weaned bull do the same thing once, his was crooked but he never breathed hard or anything... so its a little different situation.

Ryan

We had a filly that ran head on into a pipe & rod fence pen. Broke her nose (front was bent about 10-15 degrees). She was i great pain, trouble breathing out nose, some blood. Took her to animal hospital next day (soonest we could find one to take her). Surgery: Successful and about $1800 charge. Didn't regret it.

P.S. Don't avoid seeing the Vet. Give her something for pain in meantime if possible. And, don't haul her to sale barn without treatment: not humane thing to do. If you can't get her nose repaired, euthanize her for the freezer.

JMO
 
She doesn't seem to be in much pain, just breathing a little heavy and loud. Shes moving around okay, too.

As for surgery, unless it was really cheap i wouldn't even consider it. Can't justify spending much on surgery for an animal i would sell for $1000. I hope she turns out okay like the bull did, even though its somewhat a different situation.

Ryan
 
She will probally be fine. A vet fix up will be very expensive. She made need some antibotics while it is healing. She may have a crooked nose afterward and some scaring. I bet she won't try that again.
 
Ok, I can understand and agree about the vet thing... after all one has to make a living off of these things... but be humane about it, and give her something for pain...........aspirin is cheap, banamine is even better. Just mix some aspirin in with the feed.......wut say huh? :cboy:
 
Food for thought here.

I read a lot of posts about providing something for pain. I don't want to see any animal in pain or suffering, but I wonder if most newbies understand that animals (including cattle) don't sensate pain in the same manner as humans do. I'm not saying they don't feel pain, but just not the same as humans do. Or maybe their tolerance for pain is simply much higher.

For illustration purposes, lets take child birth. A human female going through natural child birth (no pain medication) will usually volcalize her feeling of pain. There can be screams of agony, occasionally some profantity, etc.... (You get my point here.) How many cows vocalize this pain. Most of my cows barely show signs of discomfort.

My point being, I don't think I would do much of anything with this heifer. I've personally broken my nose before. Didn't need anyting for pain.

I wouldn't take her to the vet. I'd keep an eye on her to make sure he is breathing okay. Swelling would be my concern. As long as her airway is open and she is able to breath okay, I'd let her heal on her own. JMO
 
I have to side on the give something for pain. Animals don't speak the same language we do so they can't just tell us how bad it hurts. Bawling may cause her nose to hurt worse which could cause her to not bawl. If so, then you can't tell how bad it hurts. A little pain medication isn't going to break your pocketbook. If money is that tight then I opt to skip a beer or two and use that money to treat the animal. The other thought I have is - call the vet and ask for advice over the phone. I call mine, explain what happened, explain what the animal is doing now, and ask for possible treatments. Vet never comes out and doesn't charge me for over the phone advice. Would like to see you do something for pain.
 
SF - not to step on anyone toes - but I learned a long time ago in Bible school that God sentenced human women pain in childbirth as a reminder of the evil fruit that was eaten in the Garden of Eden. Now I agree that animals do not "hold on to" pain like we humans do, therefore they may not necessarily realize what is the cause of their pain/discomfort. And at times their pain/discomfort is less to them then the outcome (ie sticking their necks through barb wire fences to get green grass out of the ditch).
 
We had a Longhorn cow do the same type thing the other day. We had her in the alley leading up to the medina hinge, and she tryed to get over the pipe fence. She busted her nose pretty good and bled all over everything. When we finally got her caught up for her shots, I looked her nose over. It was bleeding a little but didn't seem to be broken, so I turned her out and she seems to be doing fine now. Strike one for her in my book.
 
Ryan,
I have had several.Turn her out she will be ok.Maybe not as pretty to look at with a crooked nose.

I think that Greg or Paul either one will tell you that is what to do with her.

Good luck.
 
TxBobcat,

Do you have any picts of your Medina Hinge? I have a few longhorn cows and would like to build one, but haven't seen any that I could look at.

Have you ever AI'd in one?

Bobg
 
Bobg":vna2sfa3 said:
TxBobcat,

Do you have any picts of your Medina Hinge? I have a few longhorn cows and would like to build one, but haven't seen any that I could look at.

Have you ever AI'd in one?

Bobg

No I have not AI'd. We do use the medina hinge to vaccinate, worm, etc. It has worked pretty good so far. The gates are about 9 1/2' long by 7?" tall, and set 18" apart. In the picture below, we are vaccinating (my wife on right giving Virashield 5 + VL5 and the ranch owner on the left giving blackleg).

Where are you located Bobg?

medinahinge1.jpg
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There are a couple of things to look for to tell if she is in significant pain. First, if she is eating and chewing her cud normally, she is probably OK. Also, if she is stretching normally after getting up, she probably feels OK. They won't do these things in a normal fashion if they are sick or in pain.
 
TxBobcat,

I'm located in southeastern Washington state about 60 south of Spokane. I only have a few longhorns, but if I can find more pasture I will raise more. We've been selling a few fat calves locally on the health benefits of longhorn meat.

On the Medina Hinge what keep it from being pushed apart when an animal is in it? I've seen a few diagrams that just have some rods that sink into the ground, but it looks like it would be a pain getting them back out.

Bob
 
Bobg":3iw8unbq said:
On the Medina Hinge what keep it from being pushed apart when an animal is in it? I've seen a few diagrams that just have some rods that sink into the ground, but it looks like it would be a pain getting them back out.

Bob

The gates are held together with chains (they are behind the cow in the picture). The gates can be squeezed together as tight as you can get them and then chained. The chains are connected to the back fence so the whole unit can't move. If there was no cow in the hinge, the gates can be shut completely together on the backside. I have ran everything through it from a 200 lb calf to a full grown bull. I do tie their head up, usually with a lead rope, so they can't stab you with those horns.
 

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